#2
Kyiv Post
August 14, 2015
Editorial
Crying bear

Every week there's a new prediction of an offensive by Russian-separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. Suspicious troop buildups are pointed to, maps with red arrows slashing across them are presented, dates are given. Spring offensive. May offensive. July offensive.

Since all such predictions so far have come to naught, you could well be skeptical about the claims of those currently "crying bear" about another imminent Russian-separatist attack. After all, Russian President Vladimir Putin's "Novorossiya" project is dead (he hasn't even said the word in public for nearly a year), the "land bridge to Crimea" is plainly going nowhere and two big Russian-separatist attacks on the Ukrainian-held cities of Maryinka and Starohnativka flopped. In Starohnativka, Ukraine, for the first time since February, actually managed to retake some ground.

Warnings of a full-scale Russian invasion up to the left bank of the Dnipro River should rightly be treated with skepticism. Russia simply doesn't have the manpower to occupy so much Ukrainian territory.

And the Ukrainian army would fight back hard. It is stronger now than it was a year ago, when it was beating Russia's proxy army out of town after town in the east, strangling the Kremlin's staged rebellion. The war would have been over by September had Russia not intervened with its own regular forces to prop up its proxies and force Ukraine to go to Minsk.

But given the serious increase in the fighting in the east, and ongoing Russian troop buildups, there are reasonable and legitimate fears that the Russian-separatist forces will indeed launch more limited offensives. Realistic targets include the key regional power plant at Shchastya, the rail junction at Stanitsya Luhanska, the coke plant at Avdiyivka, and Mariupol and its Azov Sea port.

If such objectives were taken, they could make the Kremlin's proxy statelets economically viable, or at least much more economically viable than they are now.

The worst-case scenario of Ukraine being split down the Dnipro is unlikely, but there are still plenty of bad outcomes possible. Ukraine has to take all signs and warnings of major attacks by the Russian-separatist forces seriously, even if all of them turn out to be false alarms.

Remember that in the old fable of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," the wolf actually shows up at the end.
And when that day happens, the West is going to look bad for its weak response to Russia and Ukraine's leaders are going to look bad for not mobilizing the nation more strongly and for their "anti-terrorist" euphemisms for Russia's war.

As Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov tweeted this week on the fiction of the Minsk agreement and the ludicrous debate about what happens if it fails: "You can't miss what you never had. Minsk was a sick joke to give Putin cover for war & West cover for cowardice."

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 #3
Bloomberg
August 18, 2015
Ukraine Says Separatist Attacks Ease for First Time in Week
By Volodymyr Verbyany and Aliaksandr Kudrytski

Ukraine said attacks by pro-Russian insurgents in its easternmost regions abated for the first time in eight days, allaying concern that a six-month-old peace accord is unraveling.

Ukrainian officials said they saw a drop in the use of heavy weaponry and reported no new civilian deaths overnight after accusing the militants of intensifying assaults last week. The rebels, who blame the army for the surge in violence, said as recently as Sunday that the situation was "one step" from returning to war.

"Illegal armed groups significantly decreased their provocative shelling of Ukrainian positions," military spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh said Tuesday on the army's YouTube channel.
Ukraine's 16-month conflict, calmed by a wobbly cease-fire, has threatened to boil over again in recent days as the warring factions bicker over how to implement the peace agreement. The fighting has prompted calls for renewed talks between Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, whose leaders hammered out the February deal in Minsk, Belarus.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet in Brussels before the end of August, Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt told reporters Tuesday in Brussels.

Trading Blame

One serviceman was killed and another wounded overnight, according to Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a Ukrainian military spokesman. The decrease in attacks "raises the suspicion" that insurgents may be running short on ammunition, he said.

Separatist officials countered the accusations, with Donetsk rebel deputy commander Eduard Basurin saying government forces fired more than 7,000 shells at territory controlled by his self-proclaimed republic during the past week, according to the rebel-run DAN news service. Seventeen civilians were killed and 45 wounded in the attacks, Basurin told DAN.

While Ukraine detected no rebel shelling of civilian areas in the past day, separatists continue to amass troops near Donetsk, the largest city in the conflict zone, and use howitzers to fire on Ukrainian positions from a long distance, Motuzyanyk said.

The unrest is adding to pressure on the government in Kiev as it grapples with a recession, the world's second-worst-performing currency and debt-restructuring negotiations with foreign creditors. The Ukrainian government's dollar-denominated bonds due 2017 advanced 0.48 cents to 57.29 cents on the dollar as of 4:33 p.m. in Kiev, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

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 #4
Ukrainian forces fire more than 7,000 shells and mines at DPR territory - DPR

MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces fired more than 7,000 missiles, artillery and tank shells and mortar mines at the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), DPR defense ministry spokesman Eduard Basurin said on Tuesday.

"[Ukrainian forces] fired 2,260 shells from multiple rocket launcher systems, 2,442 shells from artillery instalments, 772 shells from tanks and 1,714 shells from mortars over the last week at peaceful towns and settlements in DPR," Donetsk News Agency quoted Basurin as saying.

DPR defense ministry reported earlier that the number of shellings by Ukrainian forces has decreased due to arrival of OSCE SMM (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Special Monitoring Mission) Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug. In particular, only 23 violations of ceasefire by Kiev forces were registered. "Use of multiple rocket launcher systems and artillery has also fallen by three times. Commanders of Ukrainian Armed Forces is more cautious now that OSCE SMM Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug arrived in DPR," the defense ministry said.

The DPR defense ministry said that Kiev forces shelled from artillery and mortars Donetsk (Petrovsky, Kuybyshevsky and Kievsky districts and airport), Yasinovataya and Dokuchaevsk, as well as settlements of Spartak, Krasny Partizan, Staromikhaylovka, Yasnoye, Elenovka and Zhabichevo.

"As a result of shellings, 56 artillery shells of 152mm and 122mm caliber were fired [by Ukrainian forces], 9 tank shells, 52 mines of 82mm and 120mm caliber. They also used grenade launchers and small arms," the defense ministry spokesman said.

Seventeen people were killed in shellings by Ukrainian forces over last week, and 45 more were injured, Basurin noted. "The total number of victims in bloody shellings over the last week is as follows - 17 civilians were killed, 45 people were injured," Donetsk News Agency quoted Basurin as saying.

Last week, DPR office of human rights ombudsperson said that almost 1,300 people have been killed in shellings by Ukraine forces in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) since the beginning of 2015.

Minsk agreements on Ukraine

Ceasefire is envisaged by the Minsk agreements on the settlements of the situation in Ukraine. The Minsk accords were signed on February 12, after negotiations in the so-called "Normandy format" in the Belarusian capital Minsk, bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

The Minsk accords also envisage weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local elections in Donbas, constitutional reform in Ukraine and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords.

The Ukrainian forces and the self-defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics have repeatedly accused each other of violating ceasefire and other points of the Minsk agreements.

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 #5
11,000 DPR civilians live on disengagement line under fire

MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. Some 11,000 residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) living on the disengagement line between militiamen and Ukrainian troops daily risk their lives due to massive shelling by the Ukrainian army, the head of the administration of the Petrovsky District of the city of Donetsk, Maxim Zhukovsky said Monday.

"On the average, 11,500 people reside on the disengagement line," the Donetsk News Agency quoted Zhukovsky as saying. "Over the past three days, 60 people wishing to resettle from shelled districts to a safer place have turned to us," the official said.

The head of the Kuibyshevskaya district administration of Donetsk, Ivan Prikhodko, said the district authorities are preparing to resettle about 2000 people due to incessant shelling on the part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (VSU).

"Over the past five days, the situation in our district has considerably deteriorated. It is similar to January-February, when the Ukrainian army delivered massive fire at us. We focused all forces on resettling to safe districts. Some 2,000 people are in line," he said.

The DPR Defense Ministry said Monday the situation in Donbass acquired "a crisis nature." As a result of a night shelling of the republic's territory from the positions of the Ukrainian army, five civilians were killed and 14 wounded.

Massive shelling of residential neighborhoods, including with the use of aviation, has killed thousands and led to a humanitarian disaster in east Ukraine since Kiev in April 2014 announced the start of an "antiterrorism operation" there, which involved the Armed Forces, the Interior Ministry's National Guard and volunteer battalions made up of Euromaidan activists, many of whom hold far-right and neo-Nazi views.

DPR Defense Ministry urges Europe, Russia to prevent new fighting in Donbass

The Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has decided to once again call on the heads of European states and Russia to render influence on Kiev, ministry spokesman Eduard Basurin said Monday.

"The punishers are trying to do everything possible to keep people in fear and thus disrupt the process of normalization of peaceful life in the republic. Social facilities and facilities of civil infrastructure are getting under fire increasingly frequently," the Donetsk News Agency quoted Basurin as saying.

"Thus, 20 children escaped death as a result of today's night shelling of Gorlovka by sheer luck," he said.

Basurin said Kiev concentrated military hardware near the disengagement line, which is in violation of the Minsk Agreements.

"I want to once again call on the heads of European states and Russia to render decisive influence on President of Ukraine Pyotr Poroshenko to prevent him from unfolding a new round of hostilities in Donbass," the DPR Defense Ministry spokesman said.

Massive shelling of residential neighborhoods, including with the use of aviation, has killed thousands and led to a humanitarian disaster in east Ukraine since Kiev in April 2014 announced the start of an "antiterrorism operation" there, which involved the Armed Forces, the Interior Ministry's National Guard and volunteer battalions made up of Euromaidan activists, many of whom hold far-right and neo-Nazi views.

Ukraine has regularly violated the ceasefire regime imposed as part of the Package of Measures on implementation of the September 2014 Minsk agreements.

The situation in eastern Ukraine has deteriorated in recent weeks, with the number of reports on shelling and civilian deaths increasing. The DPR and the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) have repeatedly said that the observance of the ceasefire that took effect February 15 depends solely on the Ukrainian side.

Ukraine has regularly violated the ceasefire regime imposed as part of the Package of Measures on implementation of the September 2014 Minsk agreements.

The situation in eastern Ukraine has deteriorated in recent weeks, with the number of reports on shelling and civilian deaths increasing. The DPR and the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) have repeatedly said that the observance of the ceasefire that took effect February 15 depends solely on the Ukrainian side.

 #6
Vice News
https://news.vice.com
August 17, 2015
Ukraine's Mystery Battle: Hunting for Truths Across an Elastic Border
By Jack Losh

The dynamic of claim and counter-claim between the opposing forces in eastern Ukraine is nothing new. From social media posts to ministerial press releases, the conflict is as much a war of words as it is of bombs and bullets. But an incident last week was the subject of such bold and wildly conflicting claims from both the rebels in Donetsk and the government in Kiev that they cast more doubt than certainty over the events they described.

According to Kiev, in the early hours of August 10, the front line around the small town of Starohnativka was subjected to a sustained pre-dawn attack from hundreds of pro-Russia fighters, supported by tanks, heavy artillery, and APC-borne troops. Ukraine accused the rebels of carrying out the heaviest shelling in six months and branded it "a dangerous indication" of imminent conflict. International monitors from OSCE observed a significant increase in ceasefire violations around the town and President Petro Poroshenko was even reported to have summoned an emergency defense meeting.

Amid mixed reports of multiple fatalities, Ukraine claimed that pro-Kiev forces launched a counterattack and seized strategic rebel positions - a ringing assertion of the first territorial gains made by the government since the February ceasefire deal was signed in Minsk.

But top brass in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) gave a starkly different story. According to them, it was all quiet on the eastern front. Edward Basurin, DNR deputy defense minister, denied that a rebel attack had happened, and insisted the DNR had not broken the ceasefire. He accused Ukraine of making up the story.

As stalemate, trench warfare, and consolidation of the de facto border increasingly typify a crumbling ceasefire, the alleged offensive last week could represent a hint of violence to come.

VICE News traveled to the front line round Starohnativka in the aftermath to find out exactly what had happened. There, soldiers, medics, and civilians on either side of the divide accused their respective governments of lying and challenged both official versions.

The road to Starohnativka, situated just 20 miles from the Russian border, passes through sleepy hamlets and fields of sunflowers and corn - a pleasant hinterland halfway between Donetsk and the industrialized port city of Mariupol. Save for the odd bunker and trench system, and thud of shellfire, the scene presents a rural idyll, almost a cliché of pastoral Ukraine.

Beyond the main checkpoint lay the town, the stronghold of the 72nd mechanized brigade. It was a jumble of concrete and weeds, seemingly devoid of civilian life. A group of volunteer medics were resting at a former Soviet children's camp, now commandeered for their living quarters. Three trained doctors and around 20 paramedics spend their days here waiting to treat casualties, and their nights on mats laid out on the bare, cement floor.

While a few lounged in the shade to escape the intense, afternoon sun, others sat on ammunition crates, sipping black coffee as they gazed over the scrubland which separated them from the front line.

"Too many children remain in these villages. We don't understand why their parents don't take them away," Odesseet, a father in his 40s with a quick smile, but weary eyes, told VICE News. "We desperately need more medical transports," added Larissa Khorbachanka, 23. "Two were destroyed by mines on Monday, leaving us just a few vehicles."

The medics were the first of many on the front line to deride the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's statement that government troops had seized "key heights" and pushed the rebels back "two or three kilometers."

Olena Maksymenko, 27, a volunteer paramedic from Kiev who also serves as the medical unit's press officer, told VICE News: "They said we took new territory from the separatists but it's not true. Our troops did move forward but they pulled back soon afterwards.

"The Defense Ministry just wants to show a nice situation for the people back home. But it wasn't pretty. Three men died from Right Sector [a paramilitary group which fights for Ukraine] and four from the army. One guy died as we treated him - he didn't stand a chance."

Back on the main road towards the front, Anatoli, a 40-year-old sergeant, cradled an assault rifle as he described the attack. "The battle began in the early hours of Monday and finished at around 11am before intensifying again after lunch," he said. "It was heavy - Grad missiles, multi-caliber shells, and surveillance drones."

Again pouring cold water on Kiev's claims that new ground had been captured, he added: "We moved forward to Novolaspa [a village trapped between both front lines]. But we saw a group of tanks there so we pulled back to our original positions."

Anatoli went on to accuse Kiev and Europe of abandoning Ukrainian troops and demanded more weapons. "Our guns aren't good enough to fight back with," he said. "Our weapons are old Soviet models. Our anti-tank guns are from the 1970s. We want new and better weapons from Europe but they are too scared - everyone there wants to avoid war with Russia.

"Kiev is not interested in winning this war. Where is their patriotism? The rich people who rule us there can leave anytime to go to Europe. Only the true fighters are here. This conflict only harms the poor and benefits the rich."

A pensioner who gave her name as Pelakhina rested in the shade. She had refused to flee the town; for her the details of the battle were of little consequence. "They were fighting but I don't care what day it was," she said. "I'm 84 years old. I'm not interested in any of this. I just live one day at a time."

Away from the town center, a cadre of civilian contractors were building a fresh network of trenches at Ukraine's frontline positions. Their boss, Vladimir Bardesh, also insisted that no new ground had been permanently taken. "Sure, some of our soldiers moved forward but they didn't stay there for long," he said. "Nothing has changed."

His words chimed with multiple witnesses: this is an elastic front line which, apparently, had stretched forward on Monday, only to snap back several hours later.

Further north, beneath a setting sun, as incoming and outgoing shellfire echoed along either side of the darkening valley, a group of pro-Kiev soldiers waited in an abandoned farm for nightfall. One played with a pack of dogs near a gutted barn, its roof destroyed by a rocket. A few pigs snuffled in an adjoining shed and the silhouettes of a shepherd and his flock rose above the skyline in a neighboring field.

Their commander, Major Alexander Chirya, described Monday's battle. "It was unusually loud - shelling and shooting all night. We spent it underground in a shelter." Why didn't they return fire? He let out a hollow laugh: "With AK47s against Grads?"

When asked about Kiev's claims that Ukraine had seized rebel positions, he replied with a wry smile: "Our troops didn't take any new land. Perhaps the officials at the ministry see better than we do. That news certainly about new territory sounds good to me - I'd be glad if it were true."

Two days later, VICE News was in rebel-held territory, close to the devastated villages of Novolaspa and Bila Kam'yanka, northwest of Starohnativka. The war's kaleidoscope of colors had twisted to replace Ukraine's blue-and-yellow standard with a multitude of DNR and Novorossiya flags, as soldiers proudly displayed Russian insignia on their uniforms. From the breakaway enclave, government­-held Ukraine stretched into the distance.

At the foot of a gently sloping valley, a group of rebels stood around smoking in a small outpost by a meandering waterway. Shells and mortar rounds exploded nearby but the men barely registered the blasts. Spetz, their commander, rejected the DNR's official claims that "everything was calm" on Monday.

"Here we are defending our land from Ukraine - everyday it's a big fight," said the commander, who oversees a unit of around 40 men who often engage in special reconnaissance missions.

"We didn't leave our positions. The only time that happens is when we use the landscape to our advantage and sneak behind the enemy. We like partisan war," he said.

"Nothing has changed - the same villages as before are controlled by Ukraine and DNR."

Later, at a nearby forward base, a grizzled lieutenant with a bushy beard told VICE News about the battle which his superiors claimed had never happened. He gave his name as Thor. "I believe in in the old gods," he explained.

All the pro-Russia soldiers we spoke to denied that they had suffered any fatalities, despite reports in Ukraine of more than 130 killed. Thor, however, undermined the official line and was the first rebel to acknowledge a death toll among the separatists. "Ukraine used anti-tank weapons, howitzers, and mortars," he said. "A Grad destroyed the house of a commander, a man called Khandros. It killed him, his wife, and another woman.

"We answered with anti-tank fire, heavy machine guns, and RPGs. But we still don't have enough weapons. We really want to take the whole of Donbass - it's our homeland." He quickly added: "We don't intend to go any further."

A variety of accounts haunt the aftermath of last Monday's attack around the remote town of Starohnativka, but they all point to the certainty that this was the scene of a significant battle, hidden beyond the opaque barricades of numerous military checkpoints. The fight was far greater than what has become normal along the ossified front of the war in eastern Ukraine. While the stalemate was briefly ruptured, the lines of hostility were not redrawn.

Men and women on the ground confirmed Ukraine's official death toll of seven - four from the military and national guard, and three from the Right Sector militia. The true extent of the loss of life among the Russian-backed separatist army, however, will almost certainly remain buried. The victims' families, in whatever corner of the former Soviet Union they live, will be among the only individuals to learn which men died that day.

The difficulty of pinpointing fact amid the smoke and mirrors of misinformation was highlighted again in nearby Komsomolskoe. An atmosphere of paranoia, suspense, and uncertainty pervaded the small town. The local mayor is said to have ordered the remaining populace to prepare their basements, ahead of what many people there view as a likely offensive.

Rebels along this stretch of the front said they expected Ukraine to strike on the symbolic day of August 24 - the country's Independence Day commemorating secession from the USSR in 1991. But civilians in Komsomolskoe believe an attack could come earlier.

A female shopkeeper in her 40s said the town was awash with rumors but no one knew the source. "Someone says that somebody heard from some DNR soldier on some checkpoint that we should be ready because something or other is going to happen," she said in good humor, with a hint of exasperation.

"Nobody knows what's real but people believe the rumors and it makes them afraid. People are asking me to give them boxes from the shop so they can stock up their basements. One person says the attack will be on the 17th, another says the 18th or 19th, others say the 24th.

"Everybody here knows something but no one knows the truth."

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 #7
Interfax
August 18, 2015
Putin: 'Crimeans voted for reunion with Russia. Done. Full stop'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declined to comment on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's reaction to the Russian leader's trip to Crimea.

Speaking to journalists on Aug. 18, Putin stressed that the Crimeans have put a full stop on the issue of the peninsula's future.

"No, I am not commenting on it, because the future of Crimea was decided by the people who live on this territory. They voted for a reunion with Russia. Done. Full stop," Putin said, commenting on Poroshenko's statement.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko made a critical statement on the arrival of Putin in Crimea on Aug. 17.

"The arrival of Putin in Ukrainian Crimea without the authorization of the Ukrainian authorities is a challenge to the civilized world and part of the scenario to exacerbate the situation which is being implemented by the Russian military and their mercenaries in Donbas," a statement posted on Poroshenko's official account on Facebook on Aug. 17 says.

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 #8
AFP
August 17, 2015
Putin slams 'external control' over Ukraine on Crimea visit

Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday slammed alleged "external control" over Ukraine's government as he made his third visit to the Crimean peninsula since Moscow seized the region from Kiev last year.

"I am sure that despite all the current difficulties the situation in Ukraine will improve and Ukraine will develop," Putin said in televised comments during a meeting with local officials.

"It will leave behind this shameful practice... that is placing the whole of a huge European country under external control with key positions in the government and regions filled by foreign citizens."

"I think this is humiliating for the Ukrainian people," the Kremlin strongman said.

Ex-Soviet neighbours Russia and Ukraine are locked in a bitter feud over Moscow's annexation of Crimea and the Kremlin's alleged fueling of a separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has claimed the West was behind popular protests that led to the February 2014 ouster of former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych.

Ukraine in December appointed a new pro-Western government that included American, Georgian and Lithuanian citizens.

Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko is an American citizen of Ukrainian origin who once worked at the US State Department.

Flamboyant former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who once fought a brief war with Russia, has been appointed as head of the strategic Odessa coastal region.

Putin held a government meeting in the Crimean city of Yalta to discuss the stuttering economic development of the peninsula under Moscow's rule.

The region is under tough Western sanctions that have seen its banking system hit and foreign firms pull out.

Tourism, a mainstay of the region's economy, has also plummmeted.

Putin's visit to Crimea sparked ire from Kiev with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko describing it as a "challenge to the civilized world".

"These trips mean further militarisation of the occupied Ukrainian peninsula and lead to its greater isolation," Poroshenko said in a statement on his Facebook page.

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#9
Interfax
Putin visits Crimea, says Ukraine's future is "together with Russia"

Yalta, 17 August: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Russians and Ukrainians one people and expressed confidence that Ukraine will overcome its problems and come out of "external administration".

"I consider Russians and Ukrainians generally to be one people," he said at a meeting with representatives of ethnic public organizations of the Republic of Crimea.

"I am confident that, despite all the difficulties of the current period, the situation in Ukraine will improve, Ukraine will develop positively and move away from the shameful practice we are witnessing today, namely a huge European country having been placed under external administration, with key positions in the government and the regions taken up by foreign citizens," he added.

Putin called this situation humiliating for the Ukrainian people.

"The Ukrainian people will definitively make an assessment of this, and Ukraine will get back on its feet and develop positively, bui! lding its future together with Russia," he said.

Putin also said that the Ukrainians are the third largest ethnic group in Russia after the Russians and the Tatars.

"There are five million Tatars living in Russia and three million Ukrainians, not including those staying (in Russia) on a temporary basis and considered to be citizens of Ukraine. There are already about three million such people as well, the overwhelming majority of them males of conscription age," he said.

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 #10
TASS
Putin calls for cautious approach to ethnic issue in Crimea

Yalta, 17 August: Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the public against speculation about alleged special rights of this or that ethnic group in Crimea. At a meeting with representatives of ethnic public associations of the Republic of Crimea, he described the issue of interethnic relations as subtle and delicate.

"I think that any speculation about any special rights of citizens belonging to this or that ethnic group, this or that ethnicity, is extremely dangerous," Putin said.

"It is necessary to protect the rights of all residents of Crimea and Sevastopol, regardless of whether they are Russians, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars or representatives of other ethnic groups," he said.

The president believes that in Crimea, as in the whole of the Russian Federation, "it is necessary to pay very close, constant attention to the strengthening of peace, accord, joining efforts of the state and civil society".

Speaking about the situation in Crimea in particular, Putin expressed the confidence that "the wisdom of the Crimean Tatars" will not allow "professional fighters", whose ambitions have nothing to do with the interests of the Crimean Tatar people, to destabilize the situation.

[Crimean Tatars who have returned from abroad and are long-term residents of Crimea may be given access to a simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship, Putin said during the same meeting, according to privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax.]

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 #11
Kremlin.ru
August 17, 2015
Meeting with representatives of Crimean ethnic groups' public associations

While on a working trip to Crimea, Vladimir Putin had an informal meeting with representatives of Crimean ethnic groups' public associations.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends.

Let me start by saying a few words, and then we will have a free discussion on the subject that has brought us together.

One can't help but experience special feelings and emotions here in Crimea, not just because this is such a beautiful place with unique nature, but also because you feel so fully and closely here the link with all of Russia's history and with the unique cultural and spiritual heritage that different peoples shaped over the centuries here in this land.

As you know, a census was conducted in Crimea last October, and more than 96 percent of the people indicated their ethnic identity. This is objective data, reliable and obtained through professional work. There are people from 175 different ethnic groups living in Crimea today. Russians make up the biggest ethnic group (68 percent), followed by Ukrainians (16 percent), and Crimean Tatars (more than 10 percent). The census also gave us information on people's native languages. Eighty-four percent of Crimean residents said they consider Russian their native language, nearly 8 percent said Crimean Tatar is their native language, 3.7 percent Tatar, and 3.3 percent Ukrainian. Russian is the most widely spoken language in the region, with 99.8 percent of Crimea's population knowing the language.

Crimea is essentially a mirror of multi-ethnic Russia. Here, like everywhere in Russia, we need to pay the utmost, constant attention to building greater peace and harmony, combining the efforts of the state authorities and civil society. I therefore consider this meeting with you, the representatives of Crimean Federal District's ethnic public associations, very important indeed.

Let me remind you that one of our first steps after Crimea was reunited with Russia was to enshrine in law the equality of the region's three official languages: Russian, Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar. This was a matter of principle for us, because over the preceding period of more than 20 years, a biased approach was taken to this issue in the region. Restoring historical justice and the balance of interests between the region's peoples was one of our greatest tasks, as was full rehabilitation of all repressed peoples in Crimea.

It was for this purpose that I issued the Presidential Executive Order that you know of, and the Russian Government and the regional authorities of Crimea and Sevastopol approved a comprehensive package of measures for its implementation. They concern the social and spiritual revival of the Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek, Crimean Tatar and German minorities, who were subjected to unlawful deportation and political repression.

I stress the point that creating an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding between the different ethnic groups is a key issue for the region's successful development. We can resolve the problems that have built up, including social support for the rehabilitated peoples, only if we ensure political stability and interethnic harmony.

Over this recent period, 75 ethnic and cultural autonomous organisations and 15 ethnic and cultural associations have been established. Organisations of this kind have long since become a tradition in Russia. Their members work effectively together with the authorities at all levels and sit on consultative and advisory bodies.

It is good to see that this approach is producing positive results in Crimea too. I think that the region's ethnic and cultural associations should take a more active part in public life here in Crimea, and not only here, but in all of Russia, participating in national and interregional events too.

Colleagues, I have said before that interethnic relations is a very sensitive and delicate area, and ethnic community representatives and the authorities all need to take a careful approach here and keep up constant dialogue, including at the municipal level, where people are actually living side by side together.

In this context, any speculation on the notion that people belonging to this or that ethnic group have some particular rights is very dangerous, in my view. We need to defend the interests of all people in Crimea and Sevastopol, regardless of whether they are Russian, Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar, or any of the other peoples I mentioned. We need to make use of the wealth of experience we have built up in Russia, where people of a huge variety of ethnic groups all live together. We need to promote the idea of a common cause, get people involved in tackling the problems of their town or village, and help them to organise local government.

Each region, including in the Crimean Federal District, should have regional programmes to support non-governmental organisations that contribute to interethnic peace and harmony. Today, August 17, marks the start of the latest tender for bids to receive state grants for carrying out projects of social importance and projects to protect human rights and freedoms. We are allocating more than 4 billion rubles for this work this year. I hope that NGOs from Crimea and Sevastopol will also take an active part in this tender.

This is all I wanted to say for now. I hope we will have an active discussion today on all the very important matters I have just outlined, and if you have any other issues you wish to raise, feel free - I am here at your disposal. Please, go ahead.

Head of the Qirim Interregional Crimean Tatar Public Movement Remzi Ilyasov: Good afternoon, Mr President.

I want to note right away that the Crimean Republic's accession to the Russian Federation was a momentous event for all ethnic groups in the Republic of Crimea, including the Crimean Tatars.

We all passed through the most dangerous period together in February and March 2014, when we did not allow interethnic conflicts to ensue. Regardless of what happened and what provocations occurred, we maintained peace. Today, we have peace, calm, and we are working to resolve problems.

I represent and head the Qirim public movement of the Crimean Tatar people. From the outset, we established a constructive dialogue with the authorities and are systematically holding meetings with the public; among other things, we have assumed a certain level of responsibility for the overall situation in Crimea, sharing it with the authorities. We are participating in all Crimea-wide events held in the Republic of Crimea and are organising and holding Crimean Tatar celebrations.

Thanks to the initiative and active work by members of the Qirim public movement of Crimean Tatar people, during the elections to the State Council and local offices, we were able to reduce a certain amount of political conflict and ethnic tensions.

At the same time, while this productive, creative work and constructive dialogue with the authorities was underway, we saw another attempt in August to destabilise the situation in the Republic of Crimea, to strain interethnic relations. I am referring to the so-called Global Congress of Crimean Tatars, which was held on August 1-2 in Ankara. Although it could be called a club of the like-minded, its main goal was to pit the people of Crimea against each other and destabilise the situation.

I must note that we anticipated this situation and the work of this congress, its resolution and the declaration that was to be adopted there. On July 25 (one week before this congress), we held a second conference for the Qirim interregional movement. It was attended by all public associations, regardless of whether their positions or points of view coincide with ours.

There were 520 participants in the work of the conference, over 20 public organisations of Crimean Tatars. Even the spiritual leader of Crimean Muslims, hajji Emirali Ablayev (who is sitting next to me), participated in the work of the conference, as well as representatives from regional divisions of the spiritual administration of Crimean Muslims.

Moreover, the conference was also attended by 152 individuals representing Crimean Tatar creative professionals, small and midsize businesses, economic entities, 52 officials from state institutions, state representatives, one third of the delegates of the Kurultai of the Crimean Tatar people (this is an ethnic conference of Crimean Tatars) and about 70 individuals who represented local and regional self-organised Crimean Tatar groups. As a result, the conference took on the format of a national gathering of Crimean Tatars in the Republic of Crimea.

The assessment of what was happening in Ankara was very civil, and also very precise. There was a unanimous expression of opposition to the destructive activities of the group of politicians that found shelter in Kiev and support confrontation, including the violation of international relations.

Thank you for your attention.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you, Mr Ilyasov.

First of all, I would like to thank the Crimean Tatar people for their active participation in the referendum that was held a little over a year ago. Objective data shows that the turnout among Crimean Tatars was slightly lower than the overall Crimean average, but the percentage of those who voted for reunification with Russia turned out to be even higher than in Crimea overall. This is easy to explain, since those who were against it simply did not go to vote, apparently. So the turnout was a little lower. But ultimately, it was also quite high, over 60 percent, if I remember correctly, somewhere around 66 percent. This is a very high turnout according to all international standards. And the fact that people came and voted says a great deal. But it also speaks to the fact that the government must fulfil certain significant objectives, because the people voted to change their lives for the better. The executive order I spoke about, and the decisions that were then made at the Governmental level, are aimed at ensuring that people's expectations are met.

You spoke about those who try to somehow destabilise the situation, particularly through Crimean Tatar issues, but we know well who you are talking about. There are many people who consider themselves to be professional fighters for human rights. For these people, it does not matter what rights these are, and it doesn't matter whose rights they are. What's important is that they are fighters, and they want to receive foreign grants to realise their ambitions, including their political ambitions. If they want to realise their ambitions in another state, that's great, they should go ahead and do it. But I fully agree with you that it doesn't mean we will allow them to realise their ambitions here, especially since these ambitions have nothing in common with the interests of the Crimean Tatar people and the interests of the actual people living here.

Nevertheless, we have the question of whether these rights should be fought for. I will respond in the affirmative: yes, they should be fought for. What should our joint work on this entail? It's one thing to issue an executive order, a law, or a Government resolution, and another to achieve implementation. I am not sure everything would go smoothly and within the timeline that we would like to implement these objectives. The truth is, life is always more complex and multifaceted than any decision that looks good on paper, but exists only on paper. Whereas we need to ensure that these things are implemented in real life.

Therefore, this connection with people, particularly people on the ground, with public associations like the ones you all represent, including your organisation, is very important for me and is very much needed. I very much count on working with you closely and constructively.

As for the attempts to destabilise, I think that ordinary people can tell on their own that it is impossible to promote anybody's ambitions if those ambitions have nothing to do with the interests of real people, and the Crimean Tatar problems are used only as an instrument for achieving these personal ambitions. We simply have to keep this in mind. But overall, we will work with anybody who has a constructive outlook, even if it is critical, but nevertheless constructive, and wants to achieve practical results - and that includes me, personally.

Remzi Ilyasov: Thank you.

To be continued.

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#12
Sputnik
August 17, 2015
Kiev Furious Over Ukrainians Going to Crimea for Holidays

An endless number of Ukrainian cars keep crossing the border into Crimea, as Ukrainians come to the Russian peninsula for holidays, Ukrainian news channel Uapress.info reported.

In response, Ukrainian radicals have urged to make lists of "traitors," who decided to take their vacation on the Russian peninsula and threatened to punish them later.

"I recently spoke with Ilya Kiva, the deputy head of the Kherson regional department of the Ukrainian Armed forces. He said Ukrainians are going to the occupied Crimea for holidays en masse. According to their car plates, holiday-goers are from Donetsk, Lugansk, Kharkov and Kiev," Ukrainian politician Dmytro Korchynsky said, according to the source.

Korchynsky was worried by the trend and said Ukraine should make the list of those who chose to go to the peninsula "occupied" by Russia.

Crimea has always been regarded as a perfect destination for tourists. The number of tourists that are expected to visit the peninsula during the 2015 holiday season stands at 4.3 million people, which is a 15 percent increase from 2014.

In March 2014, Crimea seceded from Ukraine and re-united with Russia. The secession took place after a nationalist government came to power in Kiev through an illegal coup in February 2014, which alienated Crimea's majority Russian-speaking population of 2.4 million.

Crimea refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new authorities in Kiev, and staged a referendum in March 2014, in which 96 percent of voters chose to join Russia.
 

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 #13
http://readrussia.com
August 17, 2015
Who's Going to Foot the Bill for Ukraine?
By Mark Adomanis

The standoff with Russia over Ukraine is, on the one hand, generally acknowledged to be "the most serious security crisis in a generation." Military tensions between NATO and Russia are now sharper than they've been since before Gorbachev came to power, and arguably even before that. Barely a day goes by without some Western diplomat or politician intoning solemnly about the need to "stand up to Russian aggression" or "support Western values." I hope this doesn't come across as glib, because the reality is that, largely due to Ukraine, Russia and the West are further apart than they have been in my entire lifetime. That is a big deal.

Indeed the need to thwart Moscow's meddling in Eastern Ukraine is one of those rare issues on which there is no partisan disagreement. The Labour party's statements could easily be confused for the Tory party's, just as Republicans and Democrats are reading from identical scripts. Even Germany and France have consolidated around a consensus position that, a year or two ago, would have seemed radically hawkish. Anti-Russia economic sanctions have gone further for longer than I would have ever thought possible, and the odds of them getting even tighter are much greater than the odds of their being loosened.  

Truth be told Russia has never been a topic of particularly deep partisan discord in the West. But while there has tended to be agreement on the big picture issues (NATO expansion, missile defense, democracy promotion) there used to be a caucus in favor of limited engagement with Moscow. This group was alternately called "Doves," "realists," or, in a rather less flattering term, "Russia understanders," but ever since the annexation of Crimea they have virtually disappeared from the halls of power. To suggest engagement with the Kremlin now is somewhat akin to suggesting accommodation with ISIS. Russia is now politically toxic in a way few other countries are.

But while the West has been in virtual unanimity in its rhetoric about Ukraine and its searing condemnations of Russia, its actions have been... well, rather less impressive.

Ukraine, in case anyone has somehow forgotten, is in the midst of a harrowing economic collapse. Driven by a combination of a weakened currency (down more than 60% against the dollar) and a shrinking economy (down more than 20% since Maidan) Kiev's sovereign debt has exploded from a respectable 40% of total output in 2013 to a harrowing 95% of total output in 2015 (debt is forecast to start decreasing by 2016, but I'll believe that when I see it). Inflation can be difficult to track in what amounts to a wartime environment, but it's currently somewhere around 50% and heading higher. The impact on popular living standards is almost beyond comprehension. It's a total disaster.

And yet, to confront this disaster, the EU has done almost nothing. It has dispensed roughly 200 million Euros in aid to internally displaced people. It recently issued a 600 million Euro bond, apparently the first installment from a new 1.8 billion euro loans package. The total amount of aid offered to Ukraine is a bit harder to peg, it is a moving target after all, but let's give a very generous estimate and suggest roughly $5 billion. For an entity with a population of more than 500 million and a more than $16 trillion economy, five billion dollars isn't even a rounding error. It's a rounding error of a rounding error.

What's particularly enlightening, though, is to compare the paltry sums of official assistance with the much larger sums that are being demanded from Ukraine's private bondholders. Recall that more than a third of Ukraine's highly-touted "$40 billion bailout" from the IMF (which was developed in close consultation with officials from the EU) was supposed to come from debt relief, or from Ukraine's bondholders to agree that it owed them less money than was previously the case.

Stripped of all of the airy rhetoric and dissembling, then, the European Union is essentially demanding that other people put up about three dollars for every dollar that it commits to subsidizing Kiev's "European choice." If there is a clearer example of just how little Europe cares about Ukraine I'm not sure I've seen it.

Please note that this is not in any way an endorsement of Europe's Ukraine policy, which has been a mess from the very beginning. It is simply a factual observation that, based on the amount of money it is willing to commit and its constant attempts to pawn off costs on anyone and everyone else, Europe cares little about Ukraine's future.

Whether Europe should be invested in Ukraine's future is a very different question, but on all sides of the crisis (European, Ukrainian, and Russian alike) there has been an assumption that Europe is, that the West is "meddling" in Ukraine with the full financial arsenal at its disposal. This simply is not true. Despite a seeming flurry of activity, Europe has actually been remarkably passive when it comes to assisting Ukraine.

Given the way things have worked out so far it doesn't seem radical to suggest that the EU's policy of "speak loudly but ask someone else to pay for a small stick" isn't working and needs to be modified.

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 #14
Harper's Magazine
www.harpers.org
August 13, 2015
Undelivered Goods
How $1.8 billion in aid to Ukraine was funneled to the outposts of the international finance galaxy
By Andrew Cockburn
Andrew Cockburn is the Washington editor of Harper's Magazine and the author, most recently, of Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins.

Arriving home from a recent trip to Ukraine, former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle reported his joy at witnessing "the Ukrainian people . . . coming together to rebuild their country from scratch." Ukrainians had, he wrote, moved him with their dreams of joining the European Union, fighting corruption, and rebuilding their shattered economy, inspiring Daschle, now a highly paid lobbyist, to endorse the ominously strengthening Washington consensus on escalating the fighting with "$3 billion in lethal and nonlethal military assistance."

Daschle's trip was sponsored by the National Democratic Institute, an affiliate of the congressionally funded National Endowment for Democracy, headed by ur-neoconservative Carl Gershman, who some time ago identified Ukraine as "the biggest prize" for Russia and deployed considerable amounts of the taxpayer dollars at his disposal to securing it for the West. However, it has been Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland who has played the most active role in pursuit of the prize. Therefore, her interventions in Ukrainian politics and the realities of politics and business in that country deserve closer attention than they have so far received.

"Toria" Nuland, as I reported in the January 2015 issue of Harper's Magazine, has enjoyed a remarkable career, occupying a succession of powerful positions through changing administrations, despite her close neocon associations over the years both marital-her husband being leading neocon ideologue Robert Kagan-and political, notably as a national-security adviser to former vice president Dick Cheney. In the buildup to the 2008 Russo-Georgia war, for example, Nuland, at the time ambassador to NATO, urged George Bush to accept both Georgia and Ukraine as NATO members. Since Georgia's then president and neocon favorite, Mikheil Saakashvili, had high hopes of drawing the United States in on his side in the coming conflict, this was a dangerous initiative. Fortunately, Bush, by that time leery of neocon advice, stood firm against her pleas.

Despite her ongoing proximity to power, Nuland attracted little public attention until the leak of an intercepted phone call gave the rest of us a taste of how she operates. Incautiously chatting on her cell on January 28, 2014, with U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, as the Kiev street protests against elected Ukrainian Viktor Yanukovych gathered momentum, Nuland and the diplomat mulled over who should now rule the country. Their candidate was "Yats," the opposition politician Aseniy Yatsenyuk, as opposed to another opposition candidate, former world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, favored by various European powers. Nuland was determined to keep Klitschko out and, as she infamously remarked on that call, "fuck the E.U."

However, despite her enthusiasm for Yatsenyuk, Nuland was clearly well aware of who was really pulling the strings in Ukrainian politics: the oligarchs, who had assembled enormous fortunes out of the wreckage of the Soviet economy. Chief among these were those connected to the import of Russian natural gas, on which Ukraine was heavily dependent, most especially Dmitry Firtash, a multimillionaire and key supporter of the government Nuland hoped to displace. This may explain why, at the end of 2013, Firtash found himself the subject of a U.S. international "wanted" notice, charged with attempting to bribe local officials in distant India. He happened to be in Vienna, and a request was accordingly submitted to the Austrian government for his extradition back to the United States to stand trial.

On the day the request was submitted, Victoria Nuland left Washington on an urgent visit to Ukraine. President Yanukovych appeared to be backtracking on a pledge to sign an association agreement with the European Union- the specific "biggest prize" cited by Gershman in a Washington Post op-ed the month before. If Yanukovych were to be persuaded to change his mind, threatening to put his sponsor Dmitry Firtash behind bars was a potent lever to apply. Four days later, Yanukovych signaled he was ready to sign, whereupon Washington lifted the request to shackle his billionaire ally.

A month later, Yanukovych changed course again, accepting a $15 billion Russian aid package. Street protests in Kiev followed, eagerly endorsed by Nuland, who subsequently distributed cookies in gratitude to the demonstrators. Yanukovych fled Kiev on February 22, and four days later the United States renewed the request to the Austrians to arrest Firtash. They duly did. Briefly imprisoned, Firtash posted the equivalent of $174 million bail and waited for a court to rule on his appeal against extradition.

Nevertheless, Firtash was still politically powerful enough in Ukraine to decide who should become president. The two leading candidates for the post were Petro Poroshenko, a chocolate-industry oligarch favored by Nuland, and Vitaly Klitschko, the boxer she had schemed to exclude from the premiership. Klitschko was very much under Firtash's control. Both men flew to the Austrian capital for a meeting with the oligarch, who negotiated a deal in which Klitschko stood down and left the way open for Poroshenko, while Klitschko became mayor of Kiev.

Ukraine meanwhile was in chaos. The revolution that had brought anti-Russian nationalists to power in Kiev was highly unwelcome in the Russian-speaking east, not to mention Moscow. Vladimir Putin capitalized on this to engineer the return of Crimea to Russian rule, and it appeared possible that he would similarly absorb eastern Ukraine. By April 2014, Russian-backed separatists had taken control of the Donbass, the steel and mining region, and were advancing westward toward the next big industrial center, Dnipropetrovsk, the domain of another oligarch, Igor Kolomoisky.

Kolomoisky had built his multibillion dollar financial base partly thanks to his mastery of "raiding," the local version of mergers and acquisitions, involving methods that would make even the most hardened Wall Street financier turn pale. According to Matthew Rojansky, director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, who has made a special study of the practice, "there are actual firms in Ukraine . . . registered with offices and business cards, firms [that specialize in] various dimensions of the corporate raiding process, which includes armed guys to do stuff, forging documents, bribing notaries, bribing judges."

Rojansky describes Kolomoisky as "the most famous oligarch-raider, accused of having conducted a massive raiding campaign over the roughly ten years up to 2010," building an empire based on banking, chemicals, energy, media, and metals, and centered on PrivatBank, the country's largest bank, holding 26 percent of all Ukrainian bank deposits. At some point, Kolomoisky's business practices raised enough eyebrows in Washington to get him on the visa ban list, precluding his entry into the United States.

In April 2014, as the separatists advanced, Kolomoisky mobilized his workforce into a 20,000-man private army in two battalions, Dnipro-1 and Dnipro-2, and stemmed the tide. According to Wilson Center director Rojansky, Kolomosiky is "perceived as the bulwark and the reason why the whole Novorossiya project [Putin's plan to absorb most of eastern Ukraine] broke down at the border of the Donbass."

Stopping Putin in his tracks would clearly have earned the master raider merit in the eyes of policymakers in Washington and other Western capitals, which may just explain how it was that while Firtash was under the shadow of the U.S. indictment, no one made too much of a fuss at the disappearance of an estimated $2 billion in IMF aid for Ukraine that speedily exited the country via Kolomoisky's PrivatBank.

The international financial agency had rushed the money to Ukraine in April, in response to what IMF managing director Christine Lagarde called a "major crisis." She went on to hail the government's "unprecedented resolve" in developing a "bold economic program to secure macroeconomic and financial stability." Over the next five months the international agency poured the equivalent of $4.51 billion ($2.97 billion in "Special Drawing Rights"-the IMF's own currency) into the National Bank of Ukraine- the country's central bank. Much of this money was urgently needed to prop up the local commercial banks. In theory, the IMF appeared to require direct supervision of how the Ukrainian banks used the aid. In fact, it appears the banks got to select their own auditors.

As the largest bank, Kolomoisky's PrivatBank stood to garner the largest share of the international aid. Published estimates put this share as high as 40 percent. Despite the torrent of cash, the banks' situation did not improve; nine months into the program, the IMF announced: "As of end January 2015 . . . the banking system's capital adequacy ratio stood at 13.8 percent, down from 15.9 percent at end-June." Where had the money gone?

Although we hear much about corruption in countries such as Ukraine in general terms, a precise, detailed accounting of the means by which an impoverished country has been stripped of precious assets is not usually easy to come by. In this case however, thanks to investigative work by the Ukrainian anticorruption watchdog group Nashi Groshi ("Our Money"), we can actually watch the process by which the gigantic sum of $1.8 billion was smoothly maneuvered offshore, in the first instance to PrivatBank accounts in Cyprus, and thence into accounts in Belize, the British Virgin Islands, and other outposts of the international financial galaxy.

The scheme, as revealed in a series of court judgments of the Economic Court of the Dnipropetrovsk region monitored and reported by Nashi Groshi, worked like this: Forty-two Ukrainian firms owned by fifty-four offshore entities registered in Caribbean, American, and Cypriot jurisdictions and linked to or affiliated with the Privat group of companies, took out loans from PrivatBank in Ukraine to the value of $1.8 billion. The firms then ordered goods from six foreign "supplier" companies, three of which were incorporated in the United Kingdom, two in the British Virgin Islands, one in the Caribbean statelet of St. Kitts & Nevis. Payment for the orders-$1.8 billion-was shortly afterwards prepaid into the vendors' accounts, which were, coincidentally, in the Cyprus branch of PrivatBank. Once the money was sent, the Ukrainian importing companies arranged with PrivatBank Ukraine that their loans be guaranteed by the goods on order.

But the foreign suppliers invariably reported that they could not fulfill the order after all, thus breaking the contracts, but without any effort to return the money. Finally, the Ukrainian companies filed suit, always in the Dnipropetrovsk Economic Court, demanding that that foreign supplier return the prepayment and also that the guarantee to PrivatBank be cancelled. In forty-two out of forty-two such cases the court issued the identical judgment: the advance payment should be returned to the Ukrainian company, but the loan agreement should remain in force.

As a result, the loan of the Ukrainian company remained guaranteed by the undelivered goods, while the chances of returning the advance payments from foreign companies remain remote. "Basically this transaction of $1.8 bill[ion] abroad with the help of fake contracts was simply an asset siphoning [operation] and a violation of currency legislation in general," explained Lesya Ivanovna, an investigator with Nashi Groshi in an email to me. "The whole lawsuit story was only needed to make it look like the bank itself is not involved in the scheme . . . officially it looks like PrivatBank now owns the products, though in reality [they] will never be delivered."

Thanks to the need to use the economic court as a legal fig leaf, the scheme operated in plain view. "There were no secret sources," Ivanovna told me. "We found this story while monitoring the court decisions registrar. It's open and free to search, so we read it on a daily basis." Other companies had used the same mechanism, she pointed out. "The major difference of this case is its immensity."

Despite this brazen raid on Ukraine's dwindling assets, no one in authority seemed to care very much. Ivanovna's group joined with an anticorruption NGO, Anti-Corruption Action Center (ANTAC), in a request to the Ukrainian General Prosecutor Office to open a criminal proceeding, but with no result. ANTAC's legal director, Antonina Volkotrub, tells me that there is currently no official investigation of the transactions, though her group has sued the prosecutor to start a criminal investigation.

Kolomoisky himself has however run into a small spot of bother with authorities. In March of this year he launched his most bold raid yet, sending a hundred armed "lawyers" to seize physical control of Ukrnafta, the principal Ukrainian oil company, and UkrTransNafta, which controls almost all oil pipelines in the country. This was a direct threat to the authority of Poroshenko, the oligarch/president, who enlisted ambassador Pyatt, Nuland's phone-mate, in a deal to remove his rival from the scene. "My understanding is that part of the deal whereby Kolomoisky gave up his attempt to take over control of Ukrnafta and UkrTransNafta and gave up governorship of Dnipropetrovsk and gave up having his pawn in control of Odessa," Rojansky told me, "was that the U.S. ambassador came in as an intermediary guarantor and said if you do these things, we will take you off the visa bad list." So it came to pass. Kolomoisky flew unmolested to the United States, where he is reported to have been spending a lot of time watching basketball games, and with no one asking awkward questions about what happened to all that IMF money. (Nuland's friend Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia who had worked so hard to draw the United States into conflict with Russia, took over the governorship of Odessa, with the United States paying his staff's salaries.)

As for Firtash, the State Department has been less forgiving. In April this year a Vienna court presided over by Judge Christoph Bauer finally got around to hearing Firtash's appeal against the extradition request in the Indian bribery case. In a daylong hearing, a crowded courtroom received a fascinating tutorial on the inside story of recent Ukrainian political events, including the background to Washington's on-again, off-again with the Firtash extradition requests according to the status of Ukraine's E.U. negotiations, not to mention Firtash's role in the Poroshenko-Klitschko negotiations. Firtash's lawyers argued that the case had little to do with bribery in India and everything to do with United States meddling in Ukrainian politics. The judge emphatically agreed, handing down a withering verdict, stating that "America obviously saw Firtash as somebody who was threatening their economic interests." He also expressed his doubts as to whether two anonymous witnesses cited by the United States in support of its case "even existed." The State Department announced it was "disappointed" in the verdict and maintained its outstanding warrant for Firtash, should he leave Austria and travel to some country with a legal system more deferential to U.S. demands.

Complex realities such as those related here do not intrude on official Washington pronouncements, where all is black and white, and the party line shifts inexorably closer to endorsing U.S. military engagement in the Ukrainian quagmire. At least we should know who is taking us there.

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#15
New York Times
August 18, 2015
Artifacts from Crimean Museums Are Held Hostage by Politics
By NINA SIEGAL

AMSTERDAM - Nearly a year after the popular exhibition "Crimea: Gold and Secrets From the Black Sea" wrapped up at the Allard Pierson Museum here, 565 rare treasures on loan from four Crimean museums remain in boxes in a storage facility, awaiting a court decision about where they should be shipped.

The collection was on display when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, and now the antiquities and other artifacts are being held hostage by the complex political situation back home.

Should the collection go back to Crimea, which would essentially deliver it into Russian hands? Or should it go to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which owned the collection at the time of the display?

It is an unusual intersection of art and politics, as current events intrude on the fate of works that are centuries old.

"As far as I know it's the only time it has ever happened, because it was really dependent on the time of the revolution and the timing of the loan," said Inge van der Vlies, a professor of art and law at the University of Amsterdam who teaches courses on the relationship between international law and cultural goods. "It's really coincidental that it happened at the same time."

The collection includes treasures of the Crimean region with an insured value of 1.4 million euros, or about $1.5 million. Among them are precious gems, Greek and Roman artifacts and Asian lacquer boxes. The loan from the four Crimean museums dazzled visitors to the Allard Pierson Museum, a quiet, little archaeology center attached to the University of Amsterdam.

The artifacts were part of a collaboration organized by the curator and archeologist Valentina Mordvintseva, one of the world's leading specialists on Crimean archeology based at the Crimean branch of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences in Simferopol. They were loaned by the Tavrida Central Museum, the Kerch Historical and Cultural Preserve, the Bakhchisaray History and Culture State Preserve of the Republic of Crimea, and the National Preserve of the Tauric Chersonesos.

"It was a big effort to convince these museums to send their top pieces first to Germany and then to the Netherlands," said Wim Hupperetz, the director of the Allard Pierson Museum.

The traveling exhibition was first shown in 2013 at the Landesmuseum in Bonn, Germany, and traveled to Amsterdam in February, where it was scheduled to run until Aug. 31, 2014.

But one month into the exhibition, in March 2014, Russia invaded Crimea, separating it from Ukraine in an act that was widely condemned by the Netherlands, the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and others. The annexation encouraged an ongoing insurgency in eastern Ukraine, reportedly backed by Russia.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture claimed the works as state property, asking that they be returned to the Ukrainian government. But the Crimean museums said that they should be returned to their places of origin, the museums that were now under Russian control.

It wasn't until the exhibition closed, at the end of August, that the issue came to a head, as the museum said it could not return the treasures until the legal ownership was clear.

Talks failed to clear up the matter, and the museum essentially waited for someone to file a legal action. That occurred in November 2014, when the four Crimean museums filed a complaint in Amsterdam district court against the Allard Pierson Museum. Later, Ukraine and the Netherlands petitioned to join the lawsuit as interested parties. (In April, the Amsterdam court rejected the intervention of the Dutch state in the matter because, according to court documents, it had "failed to give sufficient reasoning why the outcome would have a substantive adverse effect on its affairs." The Ukrainian state was allowed to remain involved.)

Russia has made no legal claim on the objects, but since its occupation of Crimea, Russia has been accused of conducting property seizures on a sweeping scale, and there are fears that it would loot the treasures of these Crimean collections, taking them to St. Petersburg or Moscow permanently.

The Russian Ministry of Culture wrote in an email that the objects should be returned to the "territory to which they are most closely related," the Black Sea shores. "The exhibits were found within the Crimea," the email said. "They were collected, studied, and safeguarded by the Crimean museums for over a hundred years."

As to the suggestion that the items would be removed to other museums in Russia, the ministry statement added that "any speculations on the subject are totally baseless. In the almost 18 months after the Crimea joined Russia, the Crimean museums have not lost a single item, and all the collections are perfectly safe and well cared for."

The court is still gathering facts, and it will be months before a decision is reached. Officials at the University of Amsterdam and the Allard Pierson Museum say they are caught in a bind.

"It's a nightmare for us, really," said Mr. Hupperetz, the museum's director. "We organized the exhibition and of course we want to maintain relationships with these museums that lent us the objects and this is, of course, not what we want. We also lend objects, so we can understand the frustration on the other side."

Michiel van Leeuwen, a Rotterdam-based lawyer handling the case for the four Crimean museums, wrote in an email that his clients "are extremely frustrated at missing these culturally important aspects from their collections."

"The underlying loan contracts are between each of the four museums in the Crimea on the one hand and the Allard Pierson Museum on the other hand," Mr. van Leeuwen said in a telephone interview. "Neither the Russian government, nor the Dutch, nor Ukrainian government has any role as a party in the contracts."

Maarten Sanders, an Amsterdam-based attorney representing Ukraine, said the objects were clearly the property of the government. "All of these museum objects are part of the public state museum fund in Ukraine," he said in a telephone interview, "so they are state property, and this is even spelled out in the agreement that the state of Ukraine has with the museums, so there can be absolutely no doubt about that."

His client would like the objects to be initially returned to the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine, the Ukrainian national museum in Kiev, and it may choose to show them elsewhere upon their return.

Some of the most spectacular works of Scythian gold on exhibit in "Gold and Secrets From the Black Sea," including a fourth-century B.C. ornamental gold helmet and scabbard intricately decorated with animal reliefs, were among the 19 artifacts that were returned to the Museum of Historical Treasures last September.

The museum's director, Liudmyla Strokova, said in an interview on Skype that she thought the rest of the works should be returned to Kiev as well.

"If the decision of the court would be that they should be returned to the Crimean museums, we think it will be an international scandal and a big problem," she said through an interpreter. "I think if they will return to Crimea museums, Russia could create a situation by which some of them could be transported to Russia for exhibitions and be there in Russia for a long time."

The items that remain in storage include artifacts from the Greek period, Roman period and early medieval period. Some particularly extraordinary objects from the show that are still in storage, said Mr. Hupperetz, include rare first-century century B.C. Chinese lacquer boxes from the Scythian settlement of Ust'-Al'ma.

Mr. Hupperetz said there was irony in the fact that the collection includes many objects tracing the relationships between the different cultures and nations that dominated the region at different times.

"The interesting thing about this region is that it's a crossroads," he said. "These Chinese objects were brought there because it was part of the Silk Road, the silk trading route, and in Roman times it was in a way the connection between the Chinese Empire and the Roman Empire. And you can see in the medieval times there were also traces of the Huns, the tribe that was looting the Roman Empire in this period."

"The Crimean case is illustrating in a very strong way that objects of cultural heritage can be claimed from a political perspective," he said. "That's something we can see more abroad, but right now it's very nearby."

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#16
Interfax-Ukraine
August 18, 2015
Sixth mobilization stage in Ukraine 60% complete - General Staff's Pravdyvets
 
The sixth stage of Ukraine's mobilization of June 16 - August 17 is 60% complete, deputy head of the Ukrainian General Staff mobilization department Oleksandr Pravdyvets has said.

"Mobilization resources recruited during this stage provided rotation and transfer to the reserve of servicemen mobilized in the third stage of mobilization and supplied new units with vehicles and personnel," he said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

The sixth mobilization stage plan has been 60% fulfilled, including 80% by officers and over 30% by vehicles. Some 8.5% of volunteers and 25.7% of unemployed citizens were recruited, Pravdyvets said.

The General Staff representative mentioned amongst the main problems the draft dodging, for example, the refusal to open doors of apartments and homes when being delivered draft notices, departure to other cities and abroad, and resignations.

Some 50-55% of notified citizens came to military registration and enlistment offices.

In all, 26,800 persons dodged the draft, Pravdyvets said, adding that 41% of men who had received draft notifications were found ineligible by medical commissions.

A total of 5,811 administrative cases were opened on counts of draft dodging, alongside almost 1,500 criminal cases on counts of official forgery, Pravdyvets said.

Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytsky, Volyn and Zhytomyr regions are the mobilization leaders: the mobilization plan has been 80-100% done there, he said.

The General Staff will compensate for the missing recruits with contract servicemen, Pravdyvets said.

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 #17
Ukraine Today
http://uatoday.tv
August 18, 2015
Ukraine faces possibility of further waves of conscription with only half of 25,000 target reached

Ukraine's war in the east against Russian-backed insurgents continues and meanwhile, so does a sixth wave of conscription. It was supposed to be the last wave of 2015 but officials say that, so far, they've only managed to recruit about half of the 25,000 men they were hoping for. Ukraine's deputy defence minister explains.

Peter Mehed, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister: "Depending on how the situation develops, there could be a 7th, an 8th or 9th wave of mobilisation. We've got 50% of the people we need."

Experts believe the fall in recruits is partly due to a decrease in the desire to fight on the part of Ukrainians. The risks seem only to be growing: last Februrary Ukraine signed a peace deal to end fighting in the east, but casualties and ceasefire violations are reported daily. Questions are also being asked as to whether new recruits will really be capable of replacing the men who are now on the frontline and who, for more than a year, have been involved in fierce fighting with Russian-backed insurgents.

Analysts say they have the answer - Ukraine needs to further professionalise the army, including paying higher wages to soldiers and offering better social protect to families, and stop relying on conscription.

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 #18
Fort Russ
http://fortruss.blogspot.com
August 17, 2015
Why the upcoming UAF offensive will fail
Roman Nesterenko
Novorossia.su [http://novorossia.su/ru/node/21798]
Translated by Soviet Bear

So, as they say in Odessa, "we are on the eve of a big 'shookher' [a mess - tr.]". UAF have licked their wounds and accumulated a certain (not very large) supply of ammunition, took the last units of armored vehicles and artillery, caught the new cannon fodder during the fifth and sixth waves of "recruitment", ran them through a boot camp, more or less reorganized their units and are ready to test their luck once again under the guidance of U.S. military advisers.
Well, maybe not yet ready, but they have no time and a whole bunch of reasons, (we should not mention them) are driving Kiev for yet another military venture. It is already obvious that the recent escalation on the front is a preparation for a major UAF assault against the NAF, where 60 000 to 75 000 of personnel, 420-450 800-900 tanks and pieces of artillery will be deployed by the UAF
It should be noted that this will be the last offensive of the UAF - the last in every sense. Because the Kiev regime has nowhere to take vehicles, artillery, and ammunition in required quantities in a reasonable time.

Now here is why the UAF is once again doomed to a humiliating defeat:
 
1. Even after Nalyvaychenko was kicked out of Chairman of the SBU position and in fact was removed from the ATO command, the voluntarism of the political leadership and the inability (or unwillingness) of the Ukrainian General staff to defend its position is the main problem of the UAF. Add to this the super-credentials of the American advisers and personal opinion of Nazi volunteer battalions "atamans" on every issue and the main problem of UAF is obvious - the absence of a clear hierarchy of command and decision-making. Simply put, UAF have much lower connectivity and manageability than the opposing NAF. Of course, at battalion level, UAF has a considerable number of combat-ready units with combat experience, but the higher the rank of a commander - the more chaos and "brilliant" decisions Geletey and Muzhenko style are made. The guys from the armed forces of Ukraine should be prepared to engage heavily fortified and camouflaged NAF positions head on, they should be prepared for "heroic" raids of armored columns of the UAF into DPR/LPR territory under constant NAF artillery fire, under continuous attacks of the Novorossian sabotage and reconnaissance groups, armed to the teeth, including with modern means of anti-tank defense.

2. The mismatch of the scale of plans with the means allocated for their implementation.

As we know from several sources, the plan of UAF "decisive offensive" is a copy of the operations "Lightning" and "Storm", which Croatia launched in 1995 against Serbian Krajina, effectively destroying the latter. The main problem with the implementation of this cunning plan is that the Croats and Bosnians at the time of these operations had a tenfold advantage over the Krajna Serbs, and today the UAF does not even have a two-fold advantage over the NAF. Besides that, the LPR/DPR don't have unfriendly Bosnia and Herzegovina in their rear, but friendly Russia and the "North wind" (Russian covert supply lines for the militia). Also, it should be noted that in the war without aviation the role of artillery is very high and NAF artillery is superior to the UAF artillery in almost every aspect, except numbers. Moreover, today it is perhaps the most efficient artillery in the whole world.

3. Morale.

There's even nothing to discuss here - a hodgepodge of staunch Nazis who don't like to die; conscripts recruited from all across Ukraine; employees of PMCs, which also really don't want to die; and a number of veterans who see this war as a personal vendetta. The latter are able to put up a decent fight - after all they are also Russians, though deceived and confused, but they still remember the ashes of Izvarino, Ilovaysk and Uglegorsk. The Ukrainian army is fragmented, heterogeneous in ideologies and moral values, and deprived of the most important thing in the war - the sense of camaraderie and the spirit of true partnership. No matter how much you tell them about the sworn brothers, the practice shows the opposite - territorial battalions betray army troops and each other, UAF shells territorial battalions with pleasure and so on.

They're opposed by virtually monolithic NAF which consists of very motivated people who every day have to disassemble the ruins of their homes to bury their children, parents, brothers and sisters and other civilians killed by the Nazi Ukrainian artillery. From people who for a year and a half struck most humiliating defeats to the army of 35 million Nazi state more than once, which at the beginning of the confrontation, exceeded the militia in all aspects. I will not be wrong if I say that outright offensive of UAF will be perceived in Donbass with relief: finally they will get the chance to destroy their tormentors and murderers as much as they can, with no regard to the opinion of the international community. The inevitable offensive of the UAF is doomed to the inevitable defeat. Of course, the Donbass will pay the greatest price of effort, sweat, tears and blood for this victory- but there is no other option. And much more important is what happens afterwards: Kharkov, Odessa, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, Mariupol all believe and wait.

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 #19
Ukrainians Will Need a Generation to Overcome Trauma from Russian War, Émigré Psychotherapist Says
Paul Goble

Staunton, August 18 - Madlen Rozenblum, an émigré psychotherapist who has been helping Ukrainians with Skype consultations and training sessions, says that Ukrainians are going to need a generation or even more to overcome the traumas inflicted on them by Russian aggression there.

While different Ukrainians have experienced the trauma of war differently, she told Novy Region 2's Kseniya Kirillova, "in point of fact, now all of the Ukraine is traumatized equally" because everyone has encountered the death of family members or friends "one way or another" (nr2.com.ua/blogs/Ksenija_Kirillova/Ukrainskaya-naciya-bezuslovno-vystoit-psihoterapevt-104071.html).

"The trauma in Ukraine is so massive and prolonged that this theme will be important for 30 years after the end of this hell which for the time being is continuing," Rozenblum says.  And that is going to require enormous effort and resources if Ukraine is going to recover from what Moscow has done to it and its people.

Ukraine needs psychologists and volunteers, she says; but at present, it especially needs to be conscious of the fact that Ukrainians are suffering from traumas. And to that end, Rozenblum adds, it is especially important that Ukrainians learn to recognize the danger signs so that they can get help for themselves or others.

The New York psychotherapist says she conducts Skype sessions with volunteers in nine Ukrainian cities. From 100 to 200 people take part in each of these. They talk about the lack of money, time and personnel; but they are increasingly working together rather than competing with one another. And that multiplies their impact.

All groups in the population need help because all include traumatized people, Rozenblum says. But among the groups requiring particular effort are children who do now understand what is happening, soldiers returning from the front who find it difficult to adapt, and the families of those who have lost someone in the fighting.

Moreover, there are the traumas resulting from conflicts between those who support Ukraine and those who support Russia. And all these things need to be addressed even though they seem to many to be secondary issues given that Ukraine is currently at war. Fighting these traumas is part of that fight, she says.

Rozenblum says she is encouraged by two things: On the one hand, the number of volunteers in Ukraine who want to help is simply "fantastic."  "With each day, the lists of resources [of this kind] are becoming larger and more dynamic." And thus, "it is always a source of joy to see how they arise and spread throughout the country by means of social networks."

And on the other, she notes, Ukraine is receiving help from around the world. Rozenblum says that the contribution of Israeli therapists has been especially important given their experiences with the trauma of a war that seems to go on forever. Their materials need to be used as widely as possible in Ukraine.

But despite the traumas Ukrainians are suffering from at the present time, Rozenblum says, she is very confident that the Ukrainian nation "as such will survive, and the more resources we have, the fewer will be the losses," physical or psychological, despite the horrors of the current war.

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 #20
Ukraine Today
http://uatoday.tv
August 16, 2015
Goons harass Odesa Gay Pride forum activists

LGBT acceptance remains low in Ukraine

A group of masked men on August 15 tossed several smoke bombs into a meeting hall in Odesa, Ukraine, where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists were about to hold a forum on the state of the movement.

Odesa Pride spokesman Kyrylo Bodelan told Agence France-Presse that no one was injured, and the assailants fled.

A Pride march had been scheduled, but a local court last week ruled that it could not take place, citing the potential for violence.

Read also Test for Ukraine's Tolerance: Exclusive interview with participants of social experiment

Anti-gay attackers had disrupted a Pride parade in Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv in June, leaving at least a dozen people injured.

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 #21
Kyiv Post
August 13, 2015
Western-educated Ukrainians seeking to transform government from key posts
By Yuliana Romanyshyn

Since the EuroMaidan Revolution, many Ukrainians who lived in the West have dropped their well-paid jobs and returned to Ukraine, inspired to change the country with their newly aquired knowledge.

So far, they have achieved mixed success in key government roles, where they have not always been welcomed.

In March 2014, a group of the Ukrainian alumni of the Western universities launched the Professional Government Initiative to help authorities overcome the economic downturn by matching educated Ukrainians with government bodies in need of professionals.

Members of the Harvard Club of Ukraine, followed by alumni from the London School of Economics, INSEAD business school, Columbia University, University of Oxford, Cambridge and others joined the initiative. Today it unites more than 3,000 Ukrainians willing to offer their skills to the government.

Their mission is to help Ukraine achieve what the West expects of it: accelerate economic reforms, eliminate corruption, strengthen the rule of law and democracy, and promote a transparent hiring process for government positions.

To bring professionals into government Professional Government Initiative started a website for hiring, www.proukrgov.org. Now one can upload a CV to the website's database of professionals. When a government body addresses the initiative with a list of vacancies, it gets a list of suitable candidates within 24 hours.

Professional Government Initiative already found jobs for more than 50 applicants. Its coordinator Oleg Goncharenko says that while the young Western-educated Ukrainians want to work for the state, the state doesn't always want them.

"The problem is that some people in the government are against newcomers," he says.

Sergiy Konovets got hired as deputy board chairman at state-owned energy monopolist Naftogaz in May 2014. With an MBA from Switzerland, he applied with a CV, being at "an emotional peak after the Revolution of Dignity," and was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

"It was done very quickly and transparently," he says. "And since then I got many questions from different people, like 'Whose interests you represent in Naftogaz.'"

Konovets said the initiative helps. "It could expand not only to the central government, but also to the regions," he says.

Working in Naftogaz for more than a year, Konovets is satisfied with his team. "It would be very difficult to change the situation without like-minded people," he says.

Konovets has not seen any new corruption schemes appear in Naftogaz while he's been working there and the new team has been trying hard to squeeze out the old ones.

"We significantly improved our transparency over last year, and openness to the society," he says.

He won't talk about his salary, but says it is lower than his previous job at Boston Consulting Group.

"Historically people paid for the positions in the state-owned company, like Naftogaz," he says.

"Getting into this company at the top position allowed them to steal money."

Low public salaries are an impediment to good government. "The result of not solving this problem is that I cannot hire good people in the state-owned company," he says.

Working long hours, Konovets describes his "biggest frustration" as focus turf - an individual ministry or department - rather than the greater good.

Sergiy Petukhov, a 31-year-old lawyer who graduated from the University of Cambridge, was hired as deputy minister for European integration at the Ministry of Justice on July 27.

But it took awhile. "Some people had never called back, some positions were canceled," he says.

Petukhov twice applied to become a deputy with the Ministry of Energy because of his relevant background. He was rejected twice before the ministry canceled the position. "For some reason this ministry still doesn't have the deputy minister for European integration," he says.

In his new job at the Ministry of Justice, Petukhov plans to concentrate on legal issues involving the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula and Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine's east.

"The biggest problem now is that Ukraine doesn't recognize any legal documents issued in Crimea, like birth and death certificates," he says.

Petukhov doesn't think that Western-educated Ukrainians are necessarily better professionals, but have valuable experience. "Probably, the European education is more valuable right now since we are integrating into Europe," he says.

Petukhov still doesn't know his salary, but expects it to be low and plans to live on savings.

Olena Tregub, who works in the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, says her money is running out after six months on the job.

Tregub, a graduate of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in U.S. and Central European University in Hungary, dropped her own consulting company in the U.S. to work for the Ukrainian government. She also has contributed to the Kyiv Post on occasion.

In the ministry, she gets Hr 12,000 a month. She says her savings will be enough for six more months. "To be able to have this kind of job, you already need to be financially independent person," she says.

In the ministry she leads a department involved with international funding and technical assistance from abroad.

"When American diplomats are here and they hear that I'm from the Fletcher School, they immediately have some level of respect, because they graduated from this school themselves," Tregub says.

While Tregub works with programs involving millions of dollars in donor aid, her department lacks the money for basics. She had to pay for two Wi-Fi routers to get Internet service, for example.

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#22
Interfax-Ukraine
August 18, 2015
Poroshenko Bloc sees no alternative to PM Yatseniuk

Leader of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction in Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada Yuriy Lutsenko said that there is no alternative to incumbent Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk now.

"Given all the criticism for the low efficiency of the government I believe personally that there is no alternative to Prime Minister Yatseniuk now," Lutsenko said live on the Vesti radio station on Monday.

The politician also said that all ministers of Yatseniuk's government would deliver reports and plans at a coalition meeting. "And to dedicate a day to the government on which an incumbent or new government proposed by the prime minister will be put on a vote of confidence. I refer to the whole government and this makes no sense to do it for each minister," Lutsenko said.

It was reported that Yatseniuk pledged to organize an inspection into the effectiveness of the activity of the government in September and upon the results of which he would offer the parliamentary coalition to replace the ministers not coping with their duties.

"In September it will be clear what is done and what is not. Upon the results of the assessment on the activity of each minister I will propose to the parliamentary coalition a new line-up of the Cabinet and a new, effective structure of the Ukrainian government and the regional state authorities," Yatseniuk said live on the '10 minutes with the premier' program.

Yatseniuk said that he had already attended to "the reports of all the ministries and the tasks were set for each minister in each sphere," so, it would be clear in September what is done and what is not.
 

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#23
Kyiv Post
August 17, 2015
Yanukovych trial won't bolster confidence in justice system
By Samuel Ramani
Samuel Ramani is an MPhil student in Russian and East European Studies at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford. He is also a regular contributor to Huffington Post Politics and World Post.

On July 21, 2015, Interpol controversially removed former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych from its wanted list. In response, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin announced on July 28 that Yanukovych would be tried in absentia on corruption charges alongside five of his closest allies.

While this trial is undoubtedly a positive step, it is unlikely to contribute to a significant improvement in the rule of law in Ukraine or bolster public confidence in the court system. My pessimistic assessment is based on two factors. First, the inconsistencies and large delays in the pursuit of justice for former Yanukovych regime officials have severely damaged the credibility of Ukraine's legal system ahead of these proceedings.

Second, the legal controversy surrounding the interpretation of Interpol's exoneration of Yanukovych, could lead to undesired Russian interference in the judicial proceedings and media assaults that could weaken Poroshenko's stature in eastern Ukraine.

Failed prosecutions shake public confidence in Ukrainian legal system

One of the most criticized aspects of Poroshenko's anti-corruption campaign has been the slow pace of legal proceedings against Yanukovych regime officials. The first criminal proceedings were announced only in June 2015, more than 15 months after Yanukovych's fall from power.

Serhiy Klyuyev, a prominent Yanukovych associate, and former owner of the multimillion-dollar estate Yanukovych lived in during his presidency, was able to flee Ukraine after losing his parliamentary immunity. The Ukrainian authorities' inability to arrest Klyuyev in a timely fashion was heavily criticized as proof of the ineffectiveness of the Ukrainian legal system.

Poroshenko attempted to deflect criticism by claiming that 2,702 former Ukrainian officials had been convicted on corruption charges, but no independent media source has been able to verify these claims. Daria Kalenyuk, the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center in Kyiv, responded to the government's lack of transparency on the specifics of these convictions by calling Poroshenko's anti-corruption campaign a token effort resembling Yanukovych's arrests of petty criminals.

The idea that Poroshenko is attempting to only create an illusion of justice could also have implications for Ukraine's relationship with Europe. The European Union has assisted Ukraine in the pursuit of justice by retaining asset freezes against Yanukovych and many of his former allies, including Klyuyev. Asset freezes are especially important as Ukrainian prosecutors have opted to focus on financial crimes perpetrated by Yanukovych allies, rather than open cases on their involvement in the deaths of over 100 protesters during the EuroMaidan Revolution.

If the Ukrainian courts do not present evidence in a timely fashion, the EU could feel compelled to loosen or lift these asset freezes. Four asset freezes, including those imposed in March 2014 on the son of former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov have already been lifted due to inadequate evidence. Should the EU begin to reconsider other asset freezes in light of Interpol's decision on Yanukovych, it would undermine the credibility of Shokin's trials.

The slow and erratic nature of the trial process for Yanukovych allies has also reduced public confidence in the credibility of Poroshenko's commitment to combat corruption in Ukraine. The long string of deaths of Yanukovych's relatives and political allies raise serious doubts about Poroshenko's ability to control the legal proceedings and prevent Yanukovych's opponents from taking the law into their own hands.

With Poroshenko's approval ratings hovering in the 30-40 percent range, these trials could significantly impact public opinion in Ukraine. The court system in Ukraine is also in desperate need of a public relations victory, as 76 percent of Ukrainians believed in June 2015 that the court system has a negative influence on developments in Ukraine, with just 11 percent approving.

If Poroshenko can round up corrupt Yanukovych-era officials still residing in Ukraine in a timely fashion and foster the impression that the in-absentia trials are serious legal proceedings and not ineptly executed show trials, he can gain substantial political capital. Should he fail, Poroshenko could be forced to overhaul the court system to restore public trust, in a similar manner to the mass dismissals of police officers after the EuroMaidan Revolution.

Russia's likely interfere in the trial process

Since Yanukovych actively sought to improve relations with Russia during his presidency and is currently residing there, the Kremlin has been staunchly opposed to the former president's indictment. The Russian authorities clearly regard these corruption trials not as a pursuit of justice, but mere vindictiveness towards a regime that they believe was illegally removed from power through a violent coup.

The official explanation for the illegitimacy of the trial outlined by Yanukovych's lawyers is that Yanukovych has been cleared of wrong doing from Interpol, and therefore, any trial is double jeopardy and a violation of international law. Yanukovych's legal team has declared its willingness to appeal against Shokin's trial to the European Court for Human Rights, should Ukraine refuse to back down.

Russia has tacitly accepted Yanukovych's case by refusing to allow his extradition to Kyiv. The Russian Ministry of Justice has denied that the Ukrainian government formally requested Yanukovych's extradition to Kyiv for testimony, but regardless, Putin is extremely unlikely to change his position on this issue. Hermitage Capital Management CEO Bill Browder, in an interview with me in March, attributed Russia's rigid stance to the common kleptocratic nature of the Putin and Yanukovych regimes. Putin is therefore afraid of the reverberations in Moscow should Yanukovych be convicted and publicly shamed in Ukraine.

The idea that Russia could intervene violently in the trial process has also become more prominent in recent months, in light of allegations of possible Russian involvement in the mysterious deaths of Yanukovych regime allies. Anton Geraschenko, an assistant to the Ukrainian Interior Minister told CNN in April that he believed that Yanukovych's allies were possibly murdered on Kremlin orders to foment anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia and destabilize Ukraine.

While there is no empirical evidence for these accusations, the idea that the Russian authorities could obstruct the trials through political intimidation is a contingency that cannot be dismissed. Even if Russia does not resort to violence, media assaults on the Ukrainian justice system will likely be an ongoing feature of the trial process.

Kremlin-backed media outlet Sputnik reported on the trial process on Aug. 6, highlighting the fact that Yanukovych was not impeached by the Ukrainian Parliament, which would be a typical legal procedure to implicate the president for corruption. Leonid Slutskiy, the Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Relations with the CIS bloc, in an interview with RT, condemned the Interpol arrest warrant on Yanukovych as a sign that Ukraine is a totalitarian and undemocratic state. If these messages permeate to the conflict-ridden Donbas, which is saturated with Russian media coverage, the trials could end up damaging Poroshenko's credibility in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Shokin's belated show of decisiveness in indicting Yanukovych and his former allies should be a positive step for Ukraine's democratic consolidation efforts. However, the dysfunctionality of the Ukrainian court system and Russia's vested interests in obstructing the trial may prevent genuine justice for those who suffered in Maidan from being achieved.

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 #24
Wall Street Journal
August 18, 2015
Editorial
Putin Escalates Again in Ukraine

Russian proxies in occupied eastern Ukraine shelled Ukrainian-government positions over the weekend and on Monday. The artillery barrage killed two civilians and wounded several others in Sartana, near the Sea of Azov. It's one of the larger-scale escalations of the conflict since a winter cease-fire. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration continues to withhold a radar upgrade that would allow Ukrainian forces to protect against shelling.

Moscow and Kiev agreed under the Minsk II accord negotiated in February to cease hostilities, create a buffer zone and withdraw heavy weapons. Yet "to a big extent [the Russian side] continually violates the agreement," Gen. Viktor Muzhenko, the chief of staff of Ukraine's armed forces, told us in a rare interview before the latest escalation. "Some days we can have 80 to 100 violations."

Russian violations range from small-arms fire to covert infiltration to the heavy shelling on the weekend. The Kremlin's aim is to gradually break the will of the Ukrainian people. "This war looks like a war of attrition," Gen. Muzhenko says. "It's Russia's intent to demoralize our forces, and using that mechanism they want to influence Ukraine's military leadership as well as the state leadership."

The devastation and human suffering wrought by indiscriminate Russian shelling-120 mm mortars and 152 mm howitzers that blow through homes, factories and fortifications and account for many of the nearly 9,000 killed since the conflict erupted-is at the heart of this strategy. Under pressure from the U.S. and Western European powers to abide by Minsk while its adversary doesn't, Kiev's hands are tied and its capabilities are outmatched by the Kremlin's.

The Obama Administration refuses to provide lethal assistance to Kiev, and even previously promised nonlethal assistance isn't always forthcoming. The Journal reported in July that the Pentagon was considering transferring the AN/TPQ-36 and 37 Firefinder radar system to Ukraine. The system would allow Kiev to better surveil Kremlin-held territory, and to locate and silence the sources of incoming artillery fire.

The system is ready to be delivered, according to a senior American military official, who says the U.S. military is also prepared to provide training. But the Pentagon still needs political authorization in Washington almost a month after the original announcement was made to great press fanfare. No wonder Vladimir Putin thinks he can violate his agreements with impunity.

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