Sportsline

Soccer

• Shakhtar Donetsk has drawn Eintracht Frankfurt and Dynamo Kyiv is set to play against Olympiacos (Greece) with the first-leg match on February 14 and the second-leg match on February 21, 2019. The draw was held on December 17 in Lyon, France. Both teams had been using Olympiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv for UEFA matches because Shakhtar was previously playing matches in Kharkiv. Because of martial law being declared in Kharkiv, Shakhtar’s matches were moved to Kyiv. The Europa League final is set for May 29, 2019, in Baku.

Prospects for strategic military partnership between Turkey and Ukraine

One of the most undesirable geopolitical scenarios for Russia would be the establishment of a strategic alliance between the two other major Black Sea regional powers – Turkey and Ukraine. Such an outcome would not only hamper the Kremlin’s plans in Europe’s East and the wider Black Sea region but also undermine its ambitions in the Middle East. And, though little noticed in the West, just such a process appears to quietly and gradually be under way between Ankara and Kyiv.

With ‘Azov debacle’ as pretext, Russia further militarizes Crimea and obstructs passage through northern sea route

The November 25 “incident” in the Black Sea involving Russia’s illegal seizure of three Ukrainian military vessels and their personnel – in actuality, an explicit violation of the norms of international maritime law (see Eurasia Daily Monitor, November 26, 28, 29) – has become a “legitimate” pretext for Moscow to conduct sweeping offensive activities in two strategic theaters: Crimea and the Arctic region.

Holodomor commemorated on Parliament Hill

OTTAWA – On November 20, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group and the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada held a well-attended, solemn commemoration in Canada’s Parliament to mark the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor, the genocide of the Ukrainian people. 

Quotable notes

“…Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine demonstrates the need for us to redouble our OSCE efforts. As we have said on many prior occasions, the United States denounces Russia’s lawless actions in Ukraine. They are flagrant acts of belligerence.