Ukraine News. Saturday 29 December. [Ukrainian sources]

SATURDAY HEADLINES:
GRU agents on behalf of "Ukrainian patriots" tried to influence decision of US politicians. Russia's construction of a fence in the administrative area with the occupied Crimea - violation of citizens' rights to freedom of movement. Tymoshenko and Poroshenko leave for the second round of presidential race. Next year, Putin will urgently need peace with Ukraine. Putin found the "key" to Ukraine: a military expert pointed to the insidious plan of the Kremlin. Avakov invited Russia to "exchange" itself on Yanukovych. Stop the construction of the "North Stream-2" will no longer be possible. Russia threatens Merkel and Macron with criminal charges through statements by Ukrainian sailors. Merkel and Macron demanded from the RF immediate release of Ukrainian sailors and unhindered passage of vessels through the Kerch Strait. Russia is not going to release Ukrainian sailors on demand of Merkel and Macron. Mourn for murderer: Euronews got into a scandal with an obituary for the killed leader of the DPR.

Kyiv, Ukraine
-1c / 31f HI | RealFeel️️ -3c / 26f
Precipitation 55%
Fog early, then remaining cloudy; storm total snowfall 1-2 cm

The Main Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry's General Staff, formerly known as the GRU, tried to influence the policy of the US Congress on the Ukrainian issue in 2015.

Censor.NET reports citing the Washington Post.

In February 2015, a dozen American senators received an email from a person allegedly belonging to the group called "Patriots of Ukraine". The letter referred to a petition requesting "to save Ukraine, whose pro-Western government is struggling with pro-Russian separatists."

The text of the appeal in Bremen English testified: "Senators and congressmen of the USA, today the situation in Ukraine is critical, the country in the war, the level of corruption in the armed forces of Ukraine is enormous, high-ranking officers sell weapons to terrorists."

The authors of the letters were asked to send "experienced US and NATO experts" to replace the Ukrainian commanders.

"We hope that you will be able to influence the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department and achieve an agreement to send Western officers to Ukraine for direct control of our Armed Forces," the letters said.

The letter obviously did not entail any consequences.

"But the significance of this event is different." According to the Western intelligence agency, this was the first known, albeit slightly clumsy, effort by the main unit of the GRU's psychological operations to influence US politicians, "the newspaper notes.

censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The collapse of Russia in the north of the occupied Crimea fence is an additional violation of not only the borders but also of citizens' rights to freedom of movement within their own state.

This was stated on December 29 by the Minister for the Temporary Occupied Territories of Ukraine Vadim Chernysh, reports Censor.NET with reference to the Crimea . Realia.

"This again confirms Russia's violation of the universal values ​​enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides for the free movement of citizens within its own country, which is only additional grounds for bringing to justice the perpetrators of violations of citizens' rights," the Ukrainian minister said. .

According to him, Russia operates in Crimea in the same way as in Georgia.

"Its (Russia - Ed.) Main objective is to restrict the movement of citizens between the occupied territories and the territories that control the government in order to create a secluded society," said Chernysh.

On the morning of December 28, Russian invaders reported that they built a fence in the north of the Crimea, consisting of several types of buildings, including video surveillance and thermal imagers.

censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Yulia Tymoshenko and Petro Poroshenko go to the second round of presidential elections, if they were held the next Sunday.

This is evidenced by the results of a poll conducted by the Center "Socis" from 8 to 18 December, informs Censor.NET.

According to him, the Batkivshchyna leader would have collected 14, 4% of those who will go to the elections, and the current head of state - 10.8%.

On the third position - showman and lead program on the channel "1 + 1" Vladimir Zelensky with a result of 9,4%. The fourth to fifth position is shared by Anatoliy Hrytsenko and Oleg Lyashko (respectively 7.2% and 7.1%).

Yuriy Boyko is gaining 6%, Oleksandr Shevchenko - 4,1%, Andriy Sadovyi - 3,4%, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk - 3,1%, Evgeny Muraev - 2,5%, Alexander Vilkul - 1,1%.

Vote is collected 76.7%. Most voters believe that Yulia Tymoshenko (23.5%) or Petro Poroshenko (20.8%) will win the election. Only 4.9% believe in the victory of Vladimir Zelensky; 2.9% - Yuriy Boyko and 2.4% - Anatoly Gritsenko.

Almost 47% consider that there is a great threat of Russian interference in the election of the President of Ukraine, 30% do not see such a threat, 23% - refused to answer this question.

The survey was conducted according to a sample representing the adult population of Ukraine as a whole, based on gender, age (from 18 years of age), division into regions and type of settlement (city / village). In total, 2000 respondents were interviewed. The method of gathering primary sociological information is a standardized "face-to-face" interview at the place of residence of respondents.

On the eve of December 28, the results of the poll conducted by the Ilk Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation jointly with the sociological service of the Razumkov Center from December 19 to December 25, 2018 were made public.

In it, Yulia Tymoshenko and Petro Poroshenko come out to the second round with a score of 16.1% and 13.8%, respectively, from those who will come to the polls. The third - Volodymyr Zelensky - 8,8%. The support of one of the leaders of the "Opposition Platform - For Life" Yuriy Boyko is 8.4%, the leader of the Civic Position party Anatoly Hrytsenko - 6.8%, the head of the Radical Party Oleg Lyashko - 6.9%.

censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Russia demonstrates external signs of stability and is trying to play a leading role on the world stage, but it is actually exhausted and should either find a way back to Europe or fall.

So say the authors of the British edition of The Times . In the editorial under the title "The Times view on President Putin's regime: Bad Vlad," they outline the choice Moscow will have to face in 2019, reports Censor.NET.

Vladimir Putin is entering the 20th year of the presidency, and in the Duma they say that it would be possible to change the Constitution of the Russian Federation, so that he remained in power.

At first glance, everything is not so bad in Russia. She has become a key player in the Middle East, is preparing for conflicts over control over the Arctic in the Arctic. Oil is more expensive, Europe and the United States do not want to respond to Russian adventures. And Putin boasts that the results of this year, Russia will receive the largest income over the past 7 years.

But in fact, the Russian leader only diverts attention from the deep social crisis in his country, according to The Times.

"In 2019, Putin will most likely be forced to undertake structural and political reforms, which means he needs to find a way back to Europe, and to do this, he will have to make peace with Ukraine," the article says.

Five years of Western sanctions choked the Russian economy, and the lion's share of Putin's popularity was built on the gratitude of the Russians for achieving stability after the collapse of the USSR. But this gratitude also has a limit.

According to the editors of the publication, if Russia wants to modernize its economy, it will need access to Western ideas and funding.

"The Kremlin's response to the sanctions was to quit its foreign policy efforts and the energy of the intelligence services in an attempt to split the Western alliance. In the long run, these sewn white thread maneuvers would hurt Russia more than increase its strength, prestige and progress abroad, as well as the popularity of Putin at home. There are signs that this "perspective" has already come, "- said in the article.

censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The recent exacerbation of Russia's relations with Belarus is directly linked to the desire of the Kremlin to surround Ukraine and gain a strategic advantage in Eastern Europe.

This is a military expert Konstantin Mashovets wrote on his Facebook page.

"If Lukashenko surrenders to Belarus, and before that everything goes ... So from a strategic point of view, the situation of Ukraine will deteriorate sharply. In essence, in the military-strategic sense we, before the large-scale invasion, find ourselves in the gut ... The enemy will be cut enough communications in the west and block the approaches to our ports from the sea (both of which he is quite capable of doing). Then, the case of technology..."- Mashovets writes.

According to him, the ideal option for the Kremlin would be to force the Belarusians to fight against Ukraine themselves, but this is unlikely to happen.

"In the Russian General Staff, it was quite clear that, in essence, Belarus is the key to Ukraine, incidentally, and to the whole region ... its admiration, Anschluss, or name it as you wish, is quite capable of placing Ukraine in a military attitude - almost in the hopelessness... even the ghostly hopes for more or less long organized resistance, in this case, will be useless. Indeed, the Belarusians will not fight the Ukrainians themselves. "For Huilla, this would be the most optimal option, so to say, the allies, according to to the CSTO, etc. However, the Kremlin clearly understood that this will not happen... That's why this year they intensified dramatically just in the Belarusian direction... "- said the expert.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov is ready to testify to the Russian prosecutor's office in exchange for the extradition of the escaped president Viktor Yanukovych.

This was stated by the adviser to the Interior Minister Zoryan Shkiryak, reports "Direct".

Russia's General Prosecutor's Office in September 2018 sent a request to the Investigative Committee for legal assistance to the Prosecutor's Office to bring to justice the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov because of the decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs not to let Russian citizens into the polling stations on the mainland of Ukraine in the presidential elections of Russia March 18, 2018 year

The Ukrainian side said that Avakov will satisfy the appeal of the Russian prosecutor's office in exchange for the extradition of Yanukovych.

"The Russian prosecutor's office appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, that is, in order to facilitate interrogation and so on. So, the interior minister just recently reacted to this quagmire, and suggested the following: that he was ready to testify, but only in exchange for extradition Yanukovych, and he hopes that the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine will help him in this, "said Skyryak.

According to LB.ua, in April 2018, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia instituted a criminal case against Avakov. It concerns the Ministry of Internal Affairs decision not to allow Russian citizens to vote in the polling station on the mainland of Ukraine on the presidential elections of Russia on March 18, 2018. These actions qualify for the "B" Part 2 of Article 141 of the Criminal Code - obstruction of the exercise of electoral rights or work of election commissions.

In the request for legal assistance, Ukraine is requested to report on the investigation of "evidence of impediment to the participation of Russian citizens" in Kiev, Lviv, Odessa and Kharkiv and provide copies of materials. Also, Russians have been asked to provide Avakov's information and documents, such as information about citizenship and issuance of a Ukrainian passport, family composition, education, place of work, work record, job description, etc.

Russia asked for information on whether Avakov had immunity from foreign criminal jurisdiction and asked for lists of police officers who secured the protection of Russian diplomats during the presidential elections in Russia.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

At the same time, Gazprom is obliged to conclude an "honest agreement" on the transit of gas to Ukraine.

The European Commissioner for Budget, Günther Ettinger, said in an interview with Spiegel, whose fragments are published by DW, Censor.NET reports.

"The truth is that the pipeline has long been under construction and can not be stopped so simply," said Ettinger.

According to the European Commissioner, the threats of the American president Donald Trump, who has repeatedly stated that Germany will be in the energy dependence on Russian gas through the pipeline, is not a reason to stop the project.

At the same time, Gunther Oettinger demands from Russia's "Gazprom" an "honest agreement" regarding further transit of gas through the territory of Ukraine. According to him, the European Union could increase pressure on Russia on this issue.

"In the matter of the further distribution of gas from the North Stream 2 in Europe, there are rules of law concerning the internal EU market, including rules that ensure fair competition, Vladimir Putin and Gazprom are aware of this," Ettinger said.

"North Stream-2" is the second gas pipeline to unite Russia with Germany on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The length of the route - more than 1200 km, the capacity of the new pipeline will amount to 55 billion m³ of gas per year. The cost of the project - € 9.5 billion, it is financed in half by Russian Gazprom and five European companies. Gazprom predicts that the North Stream 2 will be put into operation by the end of 2019.

Germany, Finland and Sweden allowed to pipeline through their territory, Denmark - no. The project operator proposed laying a pipeline bypassing Denmark.

The authorities of Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia regard North Stream 2 as a threat to Europe's energy security.

On November 12, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and an American delegation led by US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry agreed that the countries would jointly counteract the North Stream 2 project.

After an incident involving the Russian law enforcement agencies of Ukrainian naval ships in the Black Sea, the State Department noted that the US will talk to the European Union about the possible closure of the North Stream-2.

censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Speaker of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said that by requesting the release of Ukrainian sailors, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron could "get" criminally liable.

The statement of the speaker was published on the website of the lower chamber of the parliament (RF).

So he commented on the joint statement of European leaders, published on the eve of the Champs Elysees. In it, Merkel and Macron called on Russia to let the Ukrainian seamen trapped in the Kerch Strait to spend their holidays at home.

According to him, Merkel and Macron "should realize that interference with the justice process is not simply unacceptable, but may attract the attention of law enforcement agencies."

"We would like to warn against such statements to our country, which is part of the Council of Europe, and whose national legislation meets all the standards of international law," Volodin said.

There was a wave of sarcasm in the network about this.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron demanded that Russia immediately release all illegally detained Ukrainian sailors without imposing any conditions.
This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to the German wave.

"They too should have the opportunity to be on the coming holidays in the family," says a joint statement by politicians, which was published on Friday, December 28.

In addition, they demand that Russia ensure uninterrupted passage of vessels through the Kerch Strait. The leaders of Germany and France also expressed concern about the human rights situation in the occupied Crimea, the use of military force in the Kerch Strait, as well as abuses in the control of the Azov Sea.

At the same time, Merkel and Macron welcomed the armistice agreement on the Donbass. They confirmed that they will continue to make efforts to implement the Minsk Agreements.

Recall that the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on November 25th reported that the border ships of the Russian Federation committed aggressive actions against Ukrainian ships, which carried out a planned transition from the port of Odessa to the port of Mariupol Azov Sea. In particular, the Russian border ship "Don" carried a ram of the Ukrainian raiding tug, which damaged the main engine of the ship, lining and liner fencing, as well as a life raft lost. The Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stressed that the intention to implement the transition was warned in advance and acted within the framework of international law.

At the same time, the Russian Federal Security Service says that the three Ukrainian warships in the Azov Sea "illegally entered the territorial waters of the Russian Federation and headed for the Kerch Strait."

Later, the Ukrainian Navy reported that the Russian Federal Security Service's boats were defeated by defeat to the "Berdyansk" MABAK, is wounded . And then they announced the seizure of all three ships by special forces of the Russian Federation and six wounded.

On November 26, the Verkhovna Rada voted for the introduction of a military state for 30 days in Vinnytsa, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Lugansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv regions, as well as the internal waters of the Azov-Kerch water area.

The decision to introduce a martial law was taken in connection with the act of aggression against Ukraine in the Kerch Strait. As a result of illegal actions of Russian security forces, three ships of the Ukrainian Navy were captured and 24 Ukrainian servicemen captured. Under the control of the Russian Federation, the court of the occupied Simferopol has chosen a precautionary measure for 24 sailors to be detained until January 25, 2019.

On November 30, seamen were transported to Moscow: 21 Ukrainians were taken to the Moscow prison "Lefortovo", three wounded - in "Sailor's silence".

 In Ukrainian/українськийcensor.net.ua

The Foreign Ministry of Russia responded to the request of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron to release captured Ukrainian sailors

This is reported by Radio Liberty .

"Berlin and Paris blamelessly accuse Russia of any violations of human rights in the Crimea, the escalation of tensions in the Sea of ​​Azov and the Kerch Strait, put forward unacceptable demands on our address", - the statement of the Foreign Ministry of Russia says.

"As far as shipping in the Kerch Strait, the Russian side continues to provide freedom of navigation in this region," the Russian foreign ministry insists.

The Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the demands for the release of sailors with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel. At the same time, he said that Russia "will act in accordance with Russian legislation."

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

The Euronews daily daily newsletter Euronews published a list of "prominent people" who died in a passing year, including the leader of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko.

The article, published by Euronews, came out under the title "Those who went irrevocably".

"These people have different ideals, different paths to success, different interests, but they all combine passion for the cause they devoted to life, as well as the year of death, we mentioned those who the world lost in 2018," wrote edition.

Next are photos and a short biography of well-known personalities.

Among such well-known names as Hubert de Gyvanschy, Stephen Hawking, Areta Franklin, John McCain, Philip Roth, Charles Aznavour, Montserrat Caballet, Bernardo Bertolucci, Stan Lee, George Bush Sr., Oleg Tabakov, Joseph Kobzon, Mykola Karachentsov, Lyudmila Alekseeva suddenly was the leader of the so-called DNR Alexander Zakharchenko.

"The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk people's republic was fatally injured as a result of an explosion that broke out on one of the city's restaurants on August 31. Whoever is responsible for what has happened has not yet been established." Zakharchenko joined the armed forces of the self-proclaimed republic in 2014. Soon he took as chairman of the Council of Ministers of the DPR, in November of that year he was elected head of the republic", - wrote in Euronews.




apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український