November 28, 2019

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Sentsov receives Sakharov Prize

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who was one of the most prominent political prisoners in Russia, has finally received last year’s Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought from the European Parliament. The award ceremony took place on November 26 in Strasbourg, France.
Before accepting the award from the European Parliament President David Sassoli, Mr. Sentsov addressed the European lawmakers, urging them not to forget the Ukrainians’ sacrifices in the ongoing conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. “Every time, when some of you think about stretching out a hand of friendship to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin over our heads, you should remember each of the 13,000 [people] killed in Ukraine, the hundreds of our boys kept in prisons, who may be tortured as we speak, the Crimean Tatars, who may at this very moment be arrested,” Mr. Sentsov said to rapturous applause from the European lawmakers. Mr. Sentsov, a 43-year-old Crimean native who opposed Russia’s 2014 takeover of the Ukrainian peninsula, was arrested by the Moscow-imposed Crimean authorities on May 11, 2014, and charged with planning the firebombing of pro-Russian organizations in Crimea. Until September 7, Mr. Sentsov had been serving a 20-year prison sentence on what international, Russian and Ukrainian rights groups said were trumped-up charges. He had opposed and refused to recognize Moscow’s imposed rule on the Ukrainian territory. He was incarcerated for more than five years, and spent 145 days on hunger strike in 2018, demanding that Russia release all of its Ukrainian political prisoners. Last year, the European Parliament awarded Mr. Sentsov the Sakharov Prize while he was still imprisoned. It was “for freedom of thought and in recognition of his peaceful protest against the illegal occupation of his native Crimea, as well as for courage, determination and belief in supporting human dignity, democracy, the rule of law and human rights,” said Michael Gahler, a member of the European People’s Party, who nominated him. Individuals or organizations are honored with the prize for defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is named after Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)

 

Putin, Zelenskyy speak ahead of summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the phone, two weeks before their planned meeting in Paris. Statements from the Kremlin and the Presidential Office of Ukraine said the November 25 call included discussion of three-way negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union for Russia to keep sending natural gas to European customers via pipelines that traverse Ukraine. A gas-transit contract between Moscow and Kyiv expires on January 1, while the next round of EU-mediated talks for a new contract are scheduled for next week. Disputes between the two neighbors in 2006 and 2009 left many European countries with gas shortages in mid-winter. Mr. Zelenskyy’s office also said he insisted that Russia “return all weapons, equipment, and documentation that had been aboard” three Ukrainian naval vessels that were impounded by Russia in 2018 and returned to Ukraine last week. Neither statement mentioned the planned December 9 meeting with the leaders of France and Germany whose purpose is to put an end to the Donbas conflict with Moscow-backed separatists. Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula preceded the war, which has killed more than 13,000 people and internally displaced 1.5 million more since April 2014. Shooting on both sides persist on a daily basis, often leading to casualties, including civilians. Russia continues to deny direct involvement in the Donbas conflict, insisting that it is purely an internal conflict. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)

 

Trump on “Ukrainian server” theory

U.S. President Donald Trump used an extended televised interview to further assert a theory of possible Ukrainian involvement in cyberattacks on the 2016 U.S. elections that national security and other experts have publicly suggested is part of a Russian plot to smear its smaller neighbor. The accusations involving Kyiv appear to fly in the face of cybersecurity and intelligence officials’ conclusions that Russia, and not Ukraine, attacked those elections. “I still want to see that server,” Mr. Trump told Fox News in a nearly hourlong interview broadcast on November 22. “You know, the FBI has never gotten that server. That’s a big part of this whole thing. Why did they give it to a Ukrainian company? Why?” Speaking after the fifth and final day of scheduled public impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives that Mr. Trump again labeled a “hoax,” he said he does not expect to be impeached but that he would welcome “a trial” to turn the tables on Democratic lawmakers who accuse him of wrongdoing in his dealings with Ukraine. His accusations stem in part from federal law enforcement’s reliance on forensics from an outside cybersecurity firm – which the FBI subsequently confirmed – as opposed to physically possessing Democratic National Committee servers that were reportedly hacked in 2016. The company that concluded Russia was the culprit, Crowdstrike, is based in California and is owned by a naturalized American who came from Russia. A former Russia adviser on the White House National Security Council, Fiona Hill, testified to lawmakers on November 21 that unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about Ukrainian interference were “a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.” U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow tried to influence the 2016 election in favor of Trump. The New York Times quoted three unnamed U.S. officials as saying U.S. intelligence officials in recent weeks told U.S. senators and staff that “Russia had engaged in a yearslong campaign to essentially frame Ukraine as responsible for Moscow’s own hacking of the 2016 election.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP, Reuters and The New York Times)

 

Concerns over role, aims of Giuliani

Two U.S. officials, one current and one former, say they became increasingly alarmed by the role President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani played in Ukraine, as a congressional impeachment panel entered its fifth day of testimony. In his opening statement on November 21, David Holmes, a senior staff member from the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, told the hearing that Mr. Giuliani made it clear that a White House visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was contingent on the newly elected leader publicly announcing investigations into former Vice-President Joe Biden, a Democrat who is seeking to challenge Mr. Trump in next year’s presidential election, and his son Hunter, who sat on the board of Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma. This, Mr. Holmes said, was part of a narrative that led him to believe that Mr. Trump cared only about personal gain and not on agreed-upon interagency foreign policy priorities. Mr. Holmes added that he was “shocked” on July 18 when he found out security assistance to Ukraine, which is engaged in a war with Russia-backed separatists in its eastern region, was being withheld. Mr. Holmes told lawmakers that, beginning in March, the Embassy’s work became overshadowed by Mr. Trump’s personal attorney, Mr. Giuliani, and a “cadre of officials” with a direct line of contact to the president and his chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. According to Mr. Holmes, instead of pursuing policy goals that focus on “peace and security, economic growth and reform, and rule of law,” Mr. Giuliani pursued a political agenda of smearing then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and calling on Kyiv to investigate the Bidens. Over time, Mr. Holmes said he learned that a White House visit by Mr. Zelenskyy and up to $400 million of U.S. security assistance was tied to Mr. Trump’s wish for Kyiv to pursue investigations into the Bidens, particularly Joe Biden. The funds were later released. (RFE/RL)

 

UCC on new Canadian Cabinet

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) on November 21 congratulated Canada’s Cabinet Ministers who were sworn in the previous day at Rideau Hall. The UCC wished Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s Cabinet all success in their service to Canada and said it looks forward to continuing a productive and effective relationship with the Government of Canada. “On behalf of the UCC, I congratulate Canada’s Ministers on their appointments. We look forward to working with Canada’s new Cabinet,” stated Alexandra Chyczij, national president of the UCC. “In particular, I would like to personally congratulate the Honorable Chrystia Freeland, a Ukrainian Canadian, on her appointment as Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. Vitayemo!” Deputy Prime Minister Freeland is the first Ukrainian Canadian ever appointed to the post of deputy prime minister. The UCC thanked Ms. Freeland for her outstanding leadership as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (2017-2019). The Ukrainian Canadian Congress is the voice of Canada’s 1.4-million-strong Ukrainian Canadian community. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress)

 

Ukraine honors Holland, Applebaum

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has honored Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland and American writer Anne Applebaum for their work showing international audiences the history of the Soviet-era famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in 1932-33. Mr. Zelenskyy awarded the pair Ukraine’s Order of Princess Olga – bestowed on women for outstanding merit – on the national day of remembrance for victims of the genocidal famine known as the Holodomor. Ms. Holland is the director of “Mr. Jones,” a Polish-Ukrainian-British production released this year, which tells the true story of Welsh journalist Gareth Jones (played by James Norton), who published the first accounts in the Western press of the unfolding tragedy in Soviet Ukraine. Ms. Applebaum, who is based in Poland and became a citizen of the country in 2013, is the author of “Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine,” in which she argues that the Soviet leader deliberately set out to kill millions of Ukrainians through starvation. (notesfrompoland.com)

 

U.S., Ukraine in nonproliferation dialogue

The United States and Ukraine held a non-proliferation working group meeting in Kyiv and Chornobyl on November 21-22. Interagency experts from both sides met to discuss a range of challenges related to non-proliferation, counterproliferation, and strategic export control and border security. During the two-day dialogue, participants also visited Chornobyl to see the recently completed New Safe Confinement, a work of engineering without precedent in the field of nuclear construction built to convert the site into a stable and environmentally safe condition. The meeting is one of several dialogues the United States and Ukraine hold to strengthen bilateral cooperation and to address the threats posed by the proliferation of sensitive dual-use technologies, weapons of mass destruction, and their means of delivery. (U.S. Department of State)

 

Zerkal explains why she is leaving office

On November 20, Radio Svoboda reported that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Olena Zerkal confirmed her decision to leave office and explained the motivation for her actions, in an interview with Bihus.info. “In terms of, ‘we are going to be friends with Russia,’ – I’m not the person who is about friendship,” stated Ms. Zerkal. She was referring to words by Minister of Foreign Affairs Prystaiko, who has stated that “there is a societal demand for peace with Russia.” Ms. Zerkal stated that, in the last month, she has been excluded from processes regarding natural gas [negotiations], and this was the final argument, that it’s time to go. Ms. Zerkal stated that, before she leaves, she will carry out her final task. “I’ll oversee the procedural hearing in the Hague on the new arbitration regarding our military ships that were detained a year ago by the Russians, and our sailors. And that’s all that I promised.” Ms. Zerkal led Ukraine’s case against Russia at the International Court of Justice. In a victory for Ukraine, the ICJ ruled on November 11 that the court has jurisdiction and will hear the case brought by Ukraine alleging that Russia breached treaties on terrorist financing and racial discrimination in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)

 

Zelenskyy opens rebuilt bridge

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a symbolic move that highlights efforts to rebuild Ukraine’s war-torn east, has reopened a bridge in the Luhansk region that has sat in ruins the past four years. Mr. Zelenskyy wrote on Facebook late on November 20 that the bridge will be limited in function for several days before traffic will be fully restored. The bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River in the town of Stanytsia Luhanska, where a Kremlin-backed separatist checkpoint is located, was destroyed during clashes between the militants and Ukraine’s armed forces in 2015. Since the bridge’s destruction, local residents have been unable to visit relatives and friends and get food and medical supplies from the other side. “I want to counter any possible manipulations right away – tanks will not be able to pass over the bridge as it is too narrow. But an ambulance can easily pass over it. It is also possible to transport food via the bridge and it won’t be difficult to walk from one side to another,” Mr. Zelenskyy wrote. Bridge repairs started in early September after demining work around the bridge had been finished. The opening came a week after Kyiv and the Russian-backed militants said they had completed a pullback of troops and weapons from a third frontline area in eastern Ukraine. The move is one of a series of confidence-building measures that could pave the way for a four-way summit aimed at ending the conflict in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Known as the Normandy format, the next four-way talks involving Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany are scheduled to be held in Paris on December 9. (RFE/RL)

 

Horlivka mayor was Ukraine informant

The former “mayor” of Horlivka, a town in the Donetsk region controlled by Russia-backed separatists, is a Ukrainian military intelligence agent. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s military intelligence, Vadym Skibitskiy, said on November 25 that Eduard Matyukha had provided Kyiv with information on the situation in the territories Ukraine doesn’t control in the eastern region of Donetsk for five years. Mr. Matyukha said the day before that he had returned to Ukraine-controlled territory after carrying out intelligence activities in separatist-controlled Horlivka, an industrial town that had a prewar population of approximately 267,000 people. Mr. Matyukha was mayor for an unspecified brief period because a conflict erupted between rival militant groups that was partly one of his alleged assignments to cause. However, he gained the trust of the pro-Russian militants and became the first secretary of the Communist Party in Horlivka, Mr. Skibitskiy said.
He managed to establish contacts with the Communist Party of Russia and, through those links, managed to clarify their role in Russia’s policy toward Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where some districts have been controlled by Russian-backed separatists since April 2014. Kyiv-Moscow relations have been tense since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and incited separatism in the east, where more than 13,000 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict since 2014. Before the war and until November 2013, Mr. Matyukha was the first deputy mayor of Horlivka. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)

 

Trudeau and Zelenskyy speak

The Office of Canada’s Prime Minister reported on November 22 that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who called to congratulate the prime minister on his re-election. The readout of the call provided by the Office of the Prime Minister noted: “The prime minister reaffirmed Canada’s steadfast support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The two leaders discussed progress in the implementation of the Minsk Agreement within the Normandy Format to protect and promote peace and security in Ukraine, as well as recent confidence-building measures such as prisoner exchanges. Prime Minister Trudeau welcomed advances made by Ukraine on key reforms and pledged Canada’s continued support for these efforts going forward. They also discussed the upcoming NATO Leaders Meeting. The two leaders renewed their commitment to deepening the close bonds between Canada and Ukraine founded on close people-to-people ties, strong commercial relations and extensive bilateral cooperation. The leaders looked forward to staying in touch.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)

 

Jailed RFE/RL contributor is honored

Two high-profile events in New York and Kyiv on November 15 indicate increasing public pressure for the release of imprisoned Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev. PEN America dedicated its annual event marking the Day of the Imprisoned Writer (also known as “Empty Chair Day”) to Mr. Aseyev at a rally at noon in front of the Russian Consulate in New York. The event, co-sponsored by the activist group Razom for Ukraine, drew a crowd that included PEN America President Jennifer Egan, former RFE/RL President Tom Kent, writer Gary Shteyngart, members of the Ukrainian diaspora, and PEN America members and partners, who took turns reciting excerpts from Mr. Aseyev’s reporting. PEN Ukraine, Tyzhden magazine and the Center for Civil Liberties, which played a leading role in the global #SaveOlegSentsov campaign, sponsored a coordinated Empty Chair Day event on Mr. Aseyev’s behalf in Kyiv. The event featured readings and performances by Ukrainian journalists, writers, musicians, and human rights defenders, including actress Irma Vitovska-Vantsa, RFE/RL Donbas.Realii editor Andriy Dikhtiarenko, singer Oleg Kadanov, and former political prisoner Ihor Kozlovskiy. RFE/RL President Jamie Fly welcomed the events. “Despite disinformation, despite false charges, these events in support of Stas show that truth matters, and that those who write and expose the truth can count on public support around the world,” Mr. Fly said. He added that “Stas must be released immediately by his captors.” Mr. Aseyev was captured by Russia-backed militants in the summer of 2017 after blogging for RFE/RL’s Donbas unit and the Ukrainian publications Mirror of the Week and The Ukrainian Week about the effects of Russia’s intervention on daily life, schooling, politics and culture in his native Donetsk. In August, the Appeals Chamber of the Supreme Court of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, an entity that is not internationally recognized, found Mr. Aseyev guilty of “organizing an extremist community,” “espionage and incitement to espionage,” and public actions “aimed at violating territorial integrity.” He was sentenced to 15 years in a penal colony, with an additional ban on his journalistic activity. RFE/RL has condemned the ruling as an attempt by the separatists “to silence [Aseyev’s] powerful, independent voice.” (RFE/RL)

 

March urges women not to remain silent

About two dozen men and women assembled on November 24 in the center of Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-biggest city, ahead of a yearly worldwide campaign to protest domestic violence against women. They carried single-letter posters, which together spelled, “Don’t be silent,” to start what the U.N. Women, the international body’s women’s agency, calls 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. Organized by the regional development group Insight Dnipro, its chief coordinator Heorhiy Markov told RFE/RL that, according to police statistics, about 1,000 domestic violence complaints are called in every month in the city of about 1 million people where only one shelter for battered women operates. The shelter can house up to 14 women, Mr. Markov said, adding that the shelter receives 400 phone calls for help per month. At least 600 women in Ukraine die due to gender-based violence each year, compared to around 170 annual deaths because of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, according to the U.N. The problem is systemic in Ukraine where 90 percent of all cases of gender-based violence affect women. About 1.1 million women in Ukraine experience physical or sexual abuse each year, but only 16 percent report the incidents to police and even less, about 1 percent, turn to medical professionals. Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people assembled in Paris and Brussels to draw attention to domestic violence ahead of the November 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which is promoted by the U.N. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)

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