За чотири роки бойових дій на Донбасі військові спецслужби затримали 11 громадян Росії, повідомив головний військовий прокурор України Анатолій Матіос в ефірі телеканалу «112 Україна».
«Військовими спецслужбами було затримано за різних обставин 11 громадян Російської Федерації, їх встановлено, з них три кадрових військовослужбовці. Щодо всіх обвинувальні акти скеровано до суду», – повідомив Матіос.
За його словами, контингент російських військових на Донбасі у різні періоди від початку бойових дій становив від 3 до 16 тисяч людей. Водночас «невелику» кількість затриманих спецслужбами росіян Матіос пояснив тим, що Україна не веде наступальну війну.
19 лютого президент України Петро Порошенко доручив підготувати позов до Міжнародного суду ООН проти Росії щодо воєнних злочинів.
Збройний конфлікт на Донбасі почався навесні 2014 року після російської анексії Криму. Україна і Захід звинувачують Росію у збройній підтримці сепаратистів. Кремль відкидає ці звинувачення і заявляє, що на Донбасі можуть перебувати хіба що російські «добровольці».
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Пораненим та членам сімей загиблих під час подій Революції гідності виплатили 255,8 мільйона гривень допомоги станом на 20 лютого 2018 року, повідомляє Міністерство соціальної політики України.
У відомстві заявили, що допомогу надали 1080 людям.
У період з 21 листопада 2013 року до 21 лютого 2014 року під час сутичок протестувальників із силовиками в центрі Києва загинули понад сто людей, найбільше – 20 лютого. Більшість людей загинули від куль снайперів, які влучали протестувальникам у голову, серце і шию. Згодом загиблих учасників акцій протесту почали називати «Небесною сотнею».
За даними Генпрокуратури, всього під час Євромайдану постраждали 2,5 тисячі осіб, 104 з них загинули.
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Росія може оскаржити в Світовій організації торгівлі рішення Сполучених Штатів про запровадження збільшених нових тарифів на імпорт російської сталі та алюмінію.
Російське інформагентство ТАСС передає слова речника міністерства промисловості ті торгівлі Росії, який відзначив, що сталеливарній та алюмінієвій промисловості Росії буде важко працювати з тарифами в розмірі 53% та 23,6% відповідно, які були рекомендовані минулого тижня міністерством торгівлі США. Росія продає до США 35% та 27% від всього свого обсягу експорту чавуну та феросплавів, і російські компанії навряд чи зможуть знайти нові ринки для такого обсягу цих товарів.
Міністр торгівлі США Вілбур Росс заявив 16 лютого, що рекомендував запровадити нові тарифи на сталь та алюміній, вироблений Росією, а також Китаєм та іншими країнами, але остаточне рішення щодо цього ухвалить президент США Дональд Трамп. Росс заявив, що рекомендував оновити тарифні ставки, оскільки торішнє розслідування його відомства показало, що дешевий імпорт з Росії, Китаю та інших країн зробив внутрішнє виробництво сталі в США «нежиттєздатним», і цей імпорт ставить під загрозу національну безпеку.
Трамп має до 11 квітня оголосити про своє рішення щодо тарифів на імпорт сталі і до 20 квітня – щодо тарифів на імпорт алюмінію.
Китай, який є найбільшим торговельним партнером США, також пообіцяв протистояти будь-яким новим тарифам.
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Держдепартамент США в четверту річницю Революції гідності виступив із заявою, в якій відзначив, що українська влада має «подвоїти зусилля для здійснення глибоких, всебічних та своєчасних реформ, необхідних для побудови стабільної, демократичної, процвітаючої та вільної країни».
«Україна зробила важливі кроки впродовж останніх чотирьох років, однак все ще потрібна робота, необхідна для виконання обіцянок Майдану та розблокування українського потенціалу», – вказано в заяві зовнішньополітичного відомства США.
«Сполучені Штати далі підтримуватимуть Україну, яка стикається з продовженням російської агресії, що забрала понад 10 тисяч життів та змусила стати біженцями понад 1,6 мільйона українців», – ідеться в заяві Держдепартаменту.
У період з 21 листопада 2013 року по 21 лютого 2014 року під час сутичок протестувальників із силовиками в центрі Києва загинули понад сто людей, найбільше – 20 лютого. Більшість людей загинули від куль снайперів, які влучали протестувальникам у голову, серце і шию. Згодом загиблих учасників акцій протесту почали називати «Небесною сотнею».
За даними Генпрокуратури, всього під час Євромайдану постраждали 2,5 тисячі осіб, 104 з них загинули.
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U.S. President Donald Trump is again blaming former President Barack Obama for mishandling Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
“Obama was President up to, and beyond, the 2016 Election. So why didn’t he do something about Russian meddling?” Trump said on Twitter Monday. The attack on his predecessor was the latest in a series of presidential tweets.
It’s been a common complaint from Trump, who has alternately downplayed the extent of Russian interference and blamed his predecessor for failing to stop it.
In December 2016, Obama issued sanctions against nine Russian individuals and entities for election meddling and harassing U.S. diplomats in Moscow, including Russia’s GRU and FSB intelligence services. Obama also ordered 35 Russian government officials in Washington and San Francisco to leave the country for “acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status and consular activities” and ordered the closure of two waterfront compounds the administration said were used for Russian intelligence activities.
Earlier Monday, the Kremlin denied involvement in election meddling. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the allegations are baseless.
The comments come days after U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities with conducting an illegal “information warfare” campaign to disrupt the election to benefit Trump.
Mueller’s indictment of the Russian interests contended that the Internet Research Agency, a St. Petersburg-based social media company with Kremlin ties, 12 of its employees, and its financial backer orchestrated the effort.
The 37-page charging document alleges the Russian conspirators sought to coordinate their effort with Trump campaign associates, but it does not accuse anyone on the Trump campaign of colluding with the Russians.
Trump has long insisted his campaign did not collude with Russia, even as the U.S. intelligence community, and now Mueller, have concluded that Russia conducted a wide campaign to meddle in the election to help Trump win.
The indictment marks the first time Mueller’s office has brought charges against Russians and Russian entities.
Mueller’s sprawling investigation has led to the indictments of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and associate Rick Gates on money laundering charges in connection with their lobbying efforts in Ukraine that predates Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Former National Security adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about their contacts with Russian officials and are cooperating with Mueller’s probe.
In addition to investigating Russian meddling in the election, Mueller is probing whether Trump has in several ways obstructed justice to undermine the investigation, including his firing of former FBI director James Comey, who was leading the agency’s Russia probe at the time Trump ousted him. Mueller, over Trump’s objections, was then appointed to take over the Russia probe.
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Директора пов’язаного з російським опозиційним політиком Олексієм Навальним «Фонду боротьби з корупцією» Романа Рубанова увечері 19 лютого затримали в московському аеропорту Шереметьєво за підозрою в організації акції на підтримку «страйку виборців» 28 січня. Про це повідомив голова штабу Олексія Навального Леонід Волков.
За його словами, Рубанова затримали «за тією ж схемою», що й інших активістів штабу опозиціонера Кіру Ярмиш та Руслана Шаведдінова. Спочатку Рубанов пройшов повний митний огляд, а потім його повезли до відділу поліції, не повідомивши про причину затримання.
Зранку сам Олексій Навальний заявив, що затриманому Рубанову силовики «досі не можуть пояснити, за що затримали».
Олексій Навальний закликав до страйку виборців після того, як йому відмовили в реєстрації кандидатом на президентських виборах. Акції 28 січня пройшли в десятках міст Росії, в них брали участь тисячі людей. Трансляцію з протестів подивилися понад півтора мільйона чоловік. По всій країні були затримані 350 активістів.
Прес-секретаря Навального Кіру Ярмиш та прес-секретаря кампанії політика Руслана Шаведдінова затримали на паспортному контролі в Шереметьєво 30 січня. Їх звинуватили в організації “Страйки ізбіратлей”. Вони вели трансляцію акції, перебуваючи при цьому в Литві. Шаведдінов був заарештований на вісім діб, Ярмиш – на п’ять діб.
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День Героїв Небесної сотні. Кого Луценко притягне за розстріли?
Судді скаржаться на тиск Авакова. Що розлютило міністра?
Покупців інтернет-реклами у США перевірятимуть. Що це змінить?
На ці теми говоритимуть ведучий Ранкової Свободи Юрій Матвійчук і гості студії: адвокат сімей Небесної сотні Віталій Титич та начальник Управління спеціальних розслідувань ГПУ Сергій Горбатюк; директор департаменту комунікації МВС України Артем Шевченко, експерт судової групи «Реанімаційного пакету реформ» Маркіян Галабала та політичний експерт Михайло Дяденко; співзасновниця проекут StopFake Марго Гонтар та фахівець Центру міжнародних досліджень Дипломатичної академії України Олена Снігир.
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President Donald Trump on Monday endorsed former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s run for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah, despite Romney often being critical of Trump.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Romney excoriated Trump as a “fraud” who was “playing the American public for suckers.” Trump responded that Romney had “choked like a dog” in his 2012 campaign against President Barack Obama.
Trump said on Twitter that Romney “will make a great Senator and worthy successor to @OrrinHatch, and has my full support and endorsement!” Romney announced Friday he would run to replace retiring Senator Orrin Hatch.
Romney thanked Trump for the endorsement in a Tweet posted soon after the president’s statement.
“I hope that over the course of the campaign I also earn the support and endorsement of the people of Utah,” Romney said.
Despite Romney’s prior criticism, after Trump won the presidency in November 2016, he briefly considered picking Romney as secretary of state.
Republicans hold 51 of the Senate’s 100 seats but many legislative issues require getting the support of 60 senators.
Trump has repeatedly said that he needs more Republicans elected during the 2018 congressional elections to win approval of more of his agenda.
Romney said last week he generally approved of Trump’s agenda, but would not hesitate to call out the president if needed.
“I’m with the president’s domestic policy agenda of low taxes, low regulation, smaller government, pushing back against the bureaucrats,” Romney said. “I’m not always with the president on what he might say or do, and if that happens I’ll call’em like I see’em, the way I have in the past.”
Trump had lobbied Hatch to run for re-election in 2018, in what was viewed as an effort to prevent Romney from getting into the Senate. Trump and Romney spoke in January after Hatch announced his retirement, a White House official said.
Romney, the son of former Michigan Governor George Romney, helped found the buyout firm Bain Capital and gained prominence after stepping in to lead the organizing committee for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics after a bribery scandal. He served as governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007.
Romney first sought the presidency in 2008 but lost the Republican nomination to Arizona Senator John McCain. Four years later, Romney won the party’s nomination but was defeated by incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama.
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For the first time in Ukraine’s history, U.S. anthracite is helping to keep the lights on and the heating going this winter following a deal that has also helped to warm Kyiv’s relations with President Donald Trump.
The Ukrainian state-owned company that imported the coal told Reuters that the deal made commercial sense. But it was also politically expedient, according to a person involved in the talks on the agreement and power industry insiders.
On Trump’s side it provided much-needed orders for a coal-producing region of the United States which was a vital constituency in his 2016 presidential election victory.
On the Ukrainian side the deal helped to win favor with the White House, whose support Kyiv needs in its conflict with Russia, as well as opening up a new source of coal at a time when its traditional supplies are disrupted.
Trump’s campaign call to improve relations with the Kremlin alarmed the pro-Western leadership in Ukraine, which lost Crimea to Russia in 2014 and is still fighting pro-Moscow separatists.
However, things looked up when President Petro Poroshenko visited the White House on June 20 last year.
“The meeting with Trump was a key point, a milestone,” a Ukrainian government source told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
The Americans had set particular store by supplying coal to Ukraine.
“I felt that for them it is important,” said the source, who was present at the talks that also included a session with Vice President Mike Pence.
Despite Trump’s incentives, U.S. utilities are shutting coal-fired plants and shifting to gas, wind and solar power.
Ailing U.S. mining companies are therefore boosting exports to Asia and seeking new buyers among eastern European countries trying to diversify from Russian supplies.
Trump, who championed U.S. coal producers on the campaign trail, pressed the message after meeting Poroshenko.
“Ukraine already tells us they need millions and millions of metric tons right now,” he said in a speech nine days later. “We want to sell it to them, and to everyone else all over the globe who need it.”
The deal with Kyiv was sealed the following month, after which U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said: “As promised during the campaign, President Trump is unshackling American energy with each day on the job.”
The deal helped to “bolster a key strategic partner against regional pressures that seek to undermine U.S. interests,” Ross added, referring to past Russian attempts to restrict natural gas flows to its western neighbors.
A matter of necessity
Ukraine was once a major producer of anthracite, a coal used in power generation, but it has faced a shortage in recent winters as it lost control of almost all its mines in eastern areas to the separatists.
Along with South Africa, Ukrainian-owned mines in Russia have been the main source of anthracite imports but this is fraught with uncertainty. In the past Moscow has cut off gas supplies to the country over disputes with Kyiv, while the Ukrainian government considered forbidding anthracite imports from Russia in 2017 although no ban has yet been imposed.
Overall anthracite imports shot up to 3.05 million tons in the first 11 months of 2017 from just 0.05 million in all of 2013 — the year before the rebellion erupted.
Neighboring Poland, which Trump visited in July, is also turning increasingly to U.S. coal. Its imports from the United States jumped five-fold last year to 839,000 tons, data from the state-run ARP agency showed.
In July Ukrainian state-owned energy company Centrenergo announced the deal with U.S. company Xcoal for the supply of up to 700,000 tons of anthracite.
Centrenergo initially said it would pay $113 per ton for the first shipment, a price industry experts and traders told Reuters was expensive compared with alternatives.
However, chief executive Oleg Kozemko said the cost varied according to the quality of the coal delivered, so Centrenergo had paid around $100 per ton on average for the 410,000 tons supplied by the end of 2017.
Kozemko said in an interview that the U.S. deal was Centrenergo’s only viable option after three tenders it launched earlier last year had failed.
“The idea to sign a contract with Xcoal was a matter of necessity,” he said. “We had agreements but they didn’t work out, because the pricing that they discussed with us and that we signed an agreement on didn’t work out.”
Data on the state tenders registry and documents seen by Reuters show that two of the tenders failed due to a lack of bids, while the results of the third were cancelled.
If that contract had worked out, Centrenergo would have paid around $96 per ton, according to Reuters calculations based on the exchange rate at the time of the tender in April.
Energy expert Andriy Gerus told Reuters the Xcoal deal “probably helps Ukraine to build some good political connections with the USA and that is quite important right now.”
Mutual desire
The anthracite for Centrenergo is mined in Pennsylvania, which backed Trump in 2016. This marked the first time a Republican presidential candidate had won the state since 1988, and followed Trump’s pledge to reverse the coal industry’s history of plant closures and lay-offs in recent years.
Centrenergo says it and Xcoal agreed the contract independently of their governments and without any political pressure. However, Kozemko said: “If talks between the heads of our countries helped in this, then we can only say thank you… It was a mutual desire.”
For the Ukrainian authorities, the diplomatic benefit is clear. When the first shipment of U.S. anthracite arrived in September, Poroshenko tweeted a photo of himself shaking hands with Trump in Washington.
“As agreed with @realDonaldTrump, first American coal has reached Ukraine,” he wrote.
Poroshenko’s press service said the deal “is an exact example of when the friendly and warm atmosphere of one conversation helps strengthen the foundations of a strategic partnership in the interests of both sides for the future.”
The Washington meeting also discussed U.S.-Ukrainian military and technical cooperation. Soon after, the Trump administration said it was considering supplying defensive weapons to Ukraine to counter the Russian-backed separatists.
In late December the U.S. State Department announced that the provision of “enhanced defensive capabilities” had been approved.
Kozemko said the Xcoal deal was likely to be only the beginning of Centrenergo’s trade relations with the United States as it is currently holding talks on supplies of bituminous coal, a poorer quality variety.
“It’s good that we studied the U.S. market because we had never looked at it before. We see big prospects for bituminous coal,” he said, adding that other Ukrainian firms were thinking similarly. “We showed how to bring coal from America and they are following our lead.”
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Brazil’s political affairs minister Carlos Marun said on Monday that passage of a bill to overhaul the country’s costly social security system has effectively ground to a halt in Congress and would become a campaign issue in this year’s election.
Marun spoke to reporters after the head of the Senate, Eunicio Oliveira, said the federal government’s military intervention in Rio de Janeiro would, by the rules of the country’s constitution, block any vote on pension reform or any other measure requiring a constitutional amendment.
But Marun acknowledged what President Michel Temer’s critics believe is the real reason for holding up a pension vote: the unpopular bill never gained enough support and the government faced certain defeat.
“We don’t have the votes. I couldn’t guarantee we would have the votes by the end of February,” he said. That was the government’s deadline for passing the bill before lawmakers turned their attention to securing their seats in the October general election.
Pension reform is the cornerstone policy in Temer’s efforts to bring a bulging budget deficit under control. Generous pension benefits and early retirement have turned social security into the main driver of a deficit that cost Brazil its investment grade.
Marun, the cabinet minister charged with mobilizing coalition support in Congress, said pension reform would become a key issue in the election campaign if Congress did not take it up again.
The legislation to streamline social security, which required amending the constitution, was lined up for a first vote in the lower house of Congress this week.
But on Friday the government ordered the army to take over command of police forces in Rio de Janeiro state in a bid to curb violence driven by drug gangs, an intervention that blocks any constitutional changes during its duration.
Temer decreed the Rio intervention through Dec. 31, his last day in office.
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Latvia’s ABLV Bank sought emergency support Monday after U.S. officials accused it of helping breach North Korean sanctions while the country’s central bank chief faced bribery allegations, turning up the spotlight on its financial system.
The Baltic country, which is a member of the euro zone and shares a border with Russia, has come under increasing scrutiny recently as a conduit for illicit financial activities.
Last year, two Latvian banks were fined more than 2.8 million euros ($3.26 million) for allowing clients to violate sanctions imposed by the European Union and United Nations on North Korea. Three others received smaller fines.
ABLV said it had sought temporary liquidity support from the central bank after depositors withdrew 600 million euros, about 22 percent of total deposits, following a warning by the United States that it was seeking to impose sanctions on the bank.
Latvia’s third-biggest lender denied wrongdoing.
“We don’t participate in any illegal activities,” ABLV Bank Deputy CEO Vadims Reinfelds told a news conference. “There are no violations of sanctions.”
The bank said it would not look for a bailout from the government and that it had adequate liquidity and capital.
The European Central Bank had earlier stopped all payments by ABLV, citing the sharp deterioration in its financial position in recent days and saying a moratorium was needed to allow the bank and Latvian authorities to address the situation.
A source close to the matter said the moratorium would be short, giving ABLV just a few days to assess its situation.
Only solvent institutions may receive emergency liquidity support and should the ECB determine that ABLV cannot meet its financial, liquidity and capital obligations, it could start proceedings that may lead to the bank being wound down.
Latvia’s own central bank said it had agreed to provide 97.5 million euros worth of funding to ABLV but that the bank has yet to receive the money.
The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said on Feb. 13 that ABLV “had institutionalized money laundering as a pillar of the bank’s business practices.”
It linked some of the alleged activities to North Korea’s ballistic missiles program, saying bank executives and management had bribed Latvian officials to cover up their activities.
Central bank governor
Separately, Latvia’s anti-corruption authority released central bank Governor Ilmars Rimsevics, an ECB policymaker, who was arrested Saturday on suspicion of having solicited a 100,000 euro bribe. Rimsevics denied the allegations.
The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau said its investigation was not connected to the probe into ABLV.
“[Rimsevics’ arrest] … is about demanding a bribe of no less than 100,000 euros,” the bureau’s head, Jekabs Straume, told reporters at a news conference Monday.
Neither the police nor the anti-corruption authority gave details of the alleged request for a bribe.
A lawyer for Rimsevics, who was arrested after police searched his office and home, said he would hold a news conference at 11:00 a.m. (1000 GMT) Tuesday.
“I disagree with it categorically,” Rimsevics told Latvian news portal Delfi following his release, referring to the bribery allegations.
Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis had earlier called on the central bank chief to quit, saying: “I can’t imagine that a governor of the Bank of Latvia detained over such a serious accusation could work.”
Latvia joined the European Union in 2003 and adopted the euro currency at the start of 2014, a move that gave its central bank governor a seat on the ECB’s interest-rate-setting Governing Council.
The European Commission said Monday that Rimsevics’ detention was a matter for Latvian authorities.
Boom time
The economy of Latvia, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has boomed in recent years. Its commercial banking sector is dominated by Nordic banks alongside a number of privately-owned local lenders.
In its document detailing the allegations against ABLV, the FinCEN said the reliance of some parts of the Latvian banking system on non-resident deposits for capital exposed it to increased illicit finance risk. It said such deposits amounted to roughly $13 billion.
“Non-resident banking in Latvia allows offshore companies, including shell companies, to hold accounts and transact through Latvian banks,” FinCEN said, adding that criminal groups and corrupt officials may use such schemes to hide true beneficiaries or create fraudulent business transactions.
“[Former Soviet Union] actors often transfer their capital via Latvia, frequently through complex and interconnected legal structures, to various banking locales in order to reduce scrutiny of transactions and lower the transactions’ risk rating.”
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