The Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement chief on Tuesday defended the Trump administration’s work, despite a report by her own agency showing that civil and criminal crackdowns on polluters have dropped sharply in the past two years.
Assistant administrator Susan Bodine, who heads the office of enforcement, said the idea that EPA is soft on enforcement is “absolutely not true,” adding that the agency is giving states a greater role in regulation and enforcement and stressing education and voluntary compliance by companies.
Bodine told a House subcommittee that a media “narrative” about lax enforcement “discredits the tremendous work of the compliance and assurance staff” at EPA.
“A strong environment program doesn’t mean we have to collect a particular dollar amount or pick up a number of penalties,” Bodine said.
But Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said EPA’s own statistics show an agency that’s “sitting on its hands” and “giving polluters a free pass. And it’s putting our health and environment at risk.”
When EPA enforcement activities go down, “pollution goes up. That’s a fact,” said DeGette, who chairs an Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations.
The EPA has been one of the most active agencies in carrying out President Donald Trump’s deregulatory goals. Environmental and public health groups say the business-friendly rollbacks place public health and the environment at greater risk, a claim Democrats repeatedly made at Tuesday’s hearing.
The hearing was the first oversight hearing on EPA since Democrats reclaimed the House majority last month.
Congress has enacted a series of laws to protect health and the environment, “and this panel will not sit back and allow this administration to simply ignore those laws,” DeGette said. “We expect the EPA to do its job.”
Historically low levels
The latest numbers from EPA show its overall enforcement activities for 2018 were at historically low levels, according to an agency report earlier this month.
The EPA assessed polluters a total of $69 million in civil penalties in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the lowest dollar amount since EPA created the enforcement office in 1994, the report showed.
Inspections and evaluations dropped to about 10,600, half the number EPA conducted at its peak in 2010.
Civil investigations carried out by the agency declined to 22 last year, down from 40 in 2017 and 125 in 2016, the last year of the Obama administration.
Criminal fines and restitution tumbled, from $207 million in 2016 and $3 billion in 2017, which includes a $2.8 billion fine against Volkswagen over emissions-rigging in a case initiated under the Obama administration — to $86 million last year.
Rep. Frank Pallone, who chairs the full energy panel, told Bodine there was “no way to sugarcoat these numbers.”
Pallone, D-N.J., said it appears that under Trump, the EPA “is relying on industry to voluntarily come forward and disclose when they are not in compliance” with federal laws.
Pallone scoffed at that idea and said EPA must have a robust enforcement presence, with active inspections and investigations and, where appropriate, referrals to the Justice Department.
Pallone and other Democrats questioned Bodine about reports that EPA has lost 17 percent of its enforcement staff since 2017. Bodine disputed that, saying the agency has 607 enforcement employees of 649 authorized by Congress. More inspectors are being hired, including eight in March, she said.
‘Carrot and stick’ approach
Bodine challenged Democrats’ contention that higher penalties lead to improved compliance.
“Enforcement is a critical tool but it’s not an end to itself,” she said, adding that EPA uses a “carrot and stick” approach that ranges from helping companies better understand their obligations to supporting state enforcement actions “all the way to putting people in jail for knowing and egregious violations that endanger public health or the environment.”
Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., said Bodine appeared to be making excuses.
“I think it’s fairly clear EPA is not doing its job as it should,” said Castor, who chairs a special House committee on climate change.
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Bodine replied.
…
Cameroonian police officers, assisted by members of the country’s elite corps, seized hundreds of containers of fuel illegally transported from Nigeria by suspected Central African Republic rebels in the northern town of Mbe, Cameroon.
Rigobert Ojong, a member of a task force of military, police and civil society members created three weeks ago to stop the illegal fuel trade, said the group received a tip that the fuel was on its way to the C.A.R., where it would be used by rebels fighting the central African state’s government.
“We have put aside personnel dedicated to this fight, within the framework of this task force, and we have been able to intercept about 1,500 drums of fraudulently imported fuel. If we go by the price in the black market, we are talking about more than 3 billion CFA francs [$5 million] a year,” Ojong said.
Cameroon’s government says an unknown quantity of oil is smuggled from Nigeria through its territory because the border is so porous. The military says it has opened an investigation to track dealers who might be collaborating with rebel groups in the C.A.R.
Alleged corruption
Businessman Patrice Essola, who supplies fuel to the C.A.R. from Cameroon, says illegal trade with C.A.R. rebels is facilitated by corrupt government officials in both countries.
He said the rebels and traffickers work in collaboration with corrupt Cameroonian military officials and C.A.R. border immigration staff to import the fuel from Nigeria. Some of the tankers and trucks that smuggle the fuel are even protected by corrupt officials while in Cameroon and in the C.A.R., Essola added.
Kildadi Taguieke Boukar, governor of the Adamawa region that shares a border with the C.A.R., denies corrupt military officials assist rebels and smugglers, but said investigations had been opened.
Each time the traffickers are arrested, they answer charges in courts of law, Boukar said, but added the task is very, very difficult because Cameroon’s borders with Nigeria and the C.A.R. are very porous. All of the fuel will be taken to C.A.R. authorities, he said.
C.A.R. violence, peace deal
In January, Cameroon said 300 of its citizens had been abducted by suspected C.A.R. rebels within the past two years, along with at least 5,000 cattle. Local border communities asked the government to authorize self-defense groups to be equipped with guns to face rebels who they said continued to cross to their villages for supplies.
The C.A.R. was plunged into turmoil in 2013 when Muslim rebels known as the Seleka seized power in the majority-Christian country. A band of mostly Christian militias, called the anti-Balaka, rose up to counter the Seleka. Thousands of people have been killed in the violence and more than one million are internally displaced. An estimated 570,000 people have fled to neighboring countries, with about 350,000 in Cameroon.
On Feb. 2, the U.N. mission in the C.A.R., known as MINUSCA, and the African Union announced that a peace deal between the C.A.R. government and 14 rebel groups had been reached after sponsored talks in Sudan. They called on the C.A.R.’s neighbors to help bring peace by not allowing their borders to be used for supplies or as a hiding ground for fighters who refuse to respect the deal.
…
U.S. aerospace manufacturer Boeing said on Tuesday it has nominated Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a close ally of President Donald Trump, to join its board of directors at the company’s annual shareholders meeting on April 29.
If elected by Boeing shareholders, she would help guide the future of America’s largest exporter, with a network of suppliers across the United States and the world, as Washington and Beijing have been locked in intense negotiations to end a trade war.
Haley’s nomination comes as Boeing grapples with a major decision: whether to launch an all-new jetliner known as NMA, a midsize plane that would serve a niche market falling between narrow- and wide-body aircraft.
The world’s largest planemaker has said it would make a final launch decision in 2020 on the new program, which is expected to define competition with archrival Airbus SE.
Viewed as a rising Republican Party star, Haley has often been mentioned as a future presidential candidate. Her counterparts at the United Nations saw her as a voice of clarity in the Trump administration.
Haley, 47, is the first female governor of South Carolina and a three-term legislator in the South Carolina House of Representatives. As governor in 2015, Haley was a key opponent of a campaign by Boeing’s largest labor union to form a collective bargaining unit at its 787 Dreamliner factory in South Carolina – though the machinists were later successful in forming a small bargaining unit there.
Boeing has faced growing scrutiny over its links to the Trump administration after a former senior planemaking executive, Pat Shanahan, was named deputy defense secretary and later acting defense secretary. The 31-year Boeing veteran has recused himself, however, from matters relating to the aerospace company.
The U.S. government has been weighing the purchase of an advanced version of the F-15 Boeing fighter. Last year, Boeing’s defense side had a series of wins, including the U.S. Air Force’s next training jet, which could be worth up to $9.2 billion, as well as a contract to replace UH-1N Huey helicopters worth $2.4 billion over the life of the programs.
In a press release, Muilenburg praised Haley’s record in government and industry partnership.
“Boeing will benefit greatly from her broad perspectives and combined diplomatic, government and business experience to help achieve our aspiration to be the best in aerospace and a global industrial champion,” Muilenburg said.
Based on total compensation for Boeing’s other 13 board members, Haley can expect to earn more than $300,000, well above her salary as U.N. ambassador.
Separately on Tuesday, the shareholders of Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA approved a deal to sell 80 percent of the Sao Paulo-based company’s commercial jet division to Boeing, a move that could reshape the global market for aircraft of up to 150 seats.
Boeing shares were flat at $427.88 a share in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
…
Brazilians are split on a proposed overhaul of the country’s pension system, a poll showed on Tuesday, while most said they approve of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro’s performance.
In one of the first major surveys since Bolsonaro’s Jan. 1 inauguration, 45.6 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the proposed pension reform, while 43.4 percent said they approve. The rest said they did not know or did not respond.
It was the first time a poll, conducted by the MDA institute and commissioned by the CNT transportation lobby, directly asked respondents if they approved of pension reform.
Other polls in the past year have shown large swings in voter opinion on pension reform, from over two-thirds against to figures in line with the MDA survey.
Bolsonaro’s proposal to address a widening pension deficit by raising taxes, delaying retirements and creating individual savings accounts is the cornerstone of his economic agenda.
Last week, the president delivered his proposal to Congress, aiming to save over 1 trillion reais ($266 billion) in the next decade. Most economists agree the system must be overhauled to shore up public finances and foster growth.
On Bolsonaro’s popularity, 57.5 percent approved of his performance, while 28.2 percent disapproved and 14.3 percent did not offer an opinion.
In the survey, 38.9 percent said Bolsonaro’s government was “good” or “excellent,” 29 percent said it was “regular” and 19 percent said it was “bad” or “terrible.”
MDA surveyed 2,002 Brazilians between Feb. 21 and 23. The poll has a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.
your ad hereRobots, cars, drones and virtual-reality gaming sets connected by cutting-edge 5G networks are among the thousands of futuristic gadgets on display at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
While there is much excitement over how 5G will transform our everyday lives, the conference is overshadowed by the standoff between the United States and Beijing over the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, which the U.S. says could be used by the Chinese government for espionage.
Some U.S. cities and parts of Asia are already operating 5G mobile networks. They offer speeds of over a gigabyte per second and low latency — in other words, practically instant connections with no delay.
Experts say that opens up whole new fields of connectivity, from new generations of virtual reality gaming and communication, to remote robotic surgery.
The technology promises to transform not only the mobile phone in your pocket — but also the world around us, says Paul Triolo of the Eurasia Group, who spoke to VOA from the conference.
“The really key aspects of 5G, like some of the low latency communications and massive sensor, massive machine-to-machine communications, that’s more about industry and industrial uses. And that gets into thing like critical infrastructure so you’re going to have a lot more non-personal or industrial data flying around and that really has people concerned. For example, military forces in countries like the U.S. will also leverage large parts of the commercial network,” said Triolo.Chinese firm Huawei is a big presence at the Mobile World Congress and a big player in 5G network technology.
Washington has banned the company from 5G rollout in the United States, citing Chinese legislation requiring companies to cooperate with the state — raising fears Huawei 5G networks overseas could be used as a ‘Trojan horse’ to spy on rivals.
Attending the Mobile World Congress Tuesday, the U.S. State Department’s Deputy Secretary for Cyber Policy Robert L. Strayer urged allies to do the same.
“We will continue to engage with these governments and the regulators in these countries to educate them about what we know and keep sharing the best practices for how we can all successfully move to next generation of technology. I´ll just say there are plenty of options in the West,” Strayer told reporters.
Huawei’s management has said the company would never use ‘back doors’ for espionage — and the Chinese government has dismissed the accusations.
Australia, New Zealand and Japan have followed Washington’s lead and restricted Huawei’s involvement in 5G. Europe remains undecided — but the industry needs clarity, said analyst Paul Triolo.
“The European community in particular and also the U.S. have to clarify what these policies mean, what a ban would mean or what some kind of a partial ban would mean, if there’s really a middle ground that can be found here.”
Vodafone’s CEO Nick Read told the Barcelona conference that banning Huawei could set Europe’s 5G rollout back another two years.
The eye-catching gadgets show the potential that 5G networks are about to unleash. But the question of who controls those networks, and the data they carry, looms large over this futuristic world.
…
Лідер кримськотатарського народу, народний депутат України Мустафа Джемілєв звернувся до кримчан на відкритті п’ятого міжнародного форуму «Окупований Крим: 5 років опору», який відбувається в Києві.
«Я маю спеціальне звернення до жителів Криму, тому що знаю, що те, що відбувається тут (у Києві – ред.), транслюється в Крим», – заявив Джемілєв.
Він нагадав, що після анексії Криму міжнародні інстанції неодноразово вимагали від Росії залишити Крим, але «всі ці резолюції Росією нахабно ігнорувалися».
У зв’язку з цим Джемілєв подякував США, Євросоюзу та іншим країнам світу за запровадження проти Росії санкцій у зв’язку з агресією щодо України.
«Окупація триває. Сьогодні 1825-й день окупації і трохи менше окупації східних регіонів нашої країни Донбасу і Луганська. Вже 13 тисяч людей у нас загинуло», – сказав лідер кримських татар.
Джемілєв процитував слова покійного американського сенатора Джона Маккейна, який у 2014 році називав Росію «бензоколонкою, яка намагається видати себе за країну».
Як повідомлять організатори, основна частина форуму пройде 27 лютого. Заплановані три панельні дискусії, під час яких обговорять інструменти боротьби за повернення анексованого Криму. Також у центрі уваги будуть порушення прав людини на півострові.
Очікується, що у форумі візьмуть участь представники Верховної Ради, уряду України, Адміністрації президента України, РНБО, Меджлісу кримськотатарського народу, дипломатичних місій та представництв, провідні міжнародні експерти, правозахисники, громадські організації.
…
Син усунутого з посади на час розслідування першого заступника секретаря РНБО Олега Гладковського Ігор Гладковський заявив 26 лютого про намір позиватися до суду на авторів фільму, які звинувачують його в причетності до корупції в оборонному секторі.
«Звинувачення безпідставні, а так зване листування – фейкове», – заявив Гладковський-молодший агентству «Інтерфакс-Україна».
За його словами, в позові не буде матеріальних претензій, син чиновника вимагатиме лише спростування недостовірної інформації. Ігор Гладковський також заявив про готовність надати пояснення правоохоронним органам з усіх питань, які порушили журналісти.
25 лютого журналісти «Bihus.info» опублікували розслідування «Друзі президента крадуть на оборонці (секретні переписки)» про суми «відкатів» і схеми розкрадання мільйонів в оборонній сфері. За даними журналістів, безпосереднім учасником цих схем був син заступника секретаря Ради нацбезпеки і оборони Олега Гладковського Ігор.
Після цього Олег Гладковський попросив зупинити його повноваження першого заступника секретаря Ради національної безпеки і оборони на час розслідування матеріалів, викладених журналістами. Речник президента України Святослав Цеголко заявив, що Петро Порошенко підтримав відсторонення Гладковського.
…
Президент Ірану Хасан Роугані не прийняв відставку міністра закордонних справ Мохаммада Джавада Заріфа. Про намір завершити роботу в зовнішньополітичному відомстві сам Заріф написав увечері 25 лютого в мережі Instagram. Про причини відставки він не повідомляв.
Іранська служба Радіо Свобода пише, що раніше Роугані подякував міністру за службу, але не став уточнювати, чи прийме відставку.
27 лютого Заріф мав відвідати засідання комітету ООН з прав людини, але його поїздка була скасована.
Мохаммад Джавад Заріф очолює іранське зовнішньополітичне відомство від серпня 2013 року, коли замінив на цій посаді Алі Акбара Салехі, нинішнього голову Атомної організації Ірану.
Як міністр закордонних справ Заріф очолював іранську переговорну групу зі США, Росією, Китаєм, Великою Британію, Францією та Німеччиною. 14 липня 2015 року сторони уклали знакову ядерну угоду, відому як Спільний комплексний план, згідно з яким Іран зобов’язався припинити свою ядерну діяльність у відповідь на скасування міжнародних економічних санкцій.
…
Через вибух, що прогримів сьогодні в центральній лікарні у місті Андижан в Узбекистані, постраждали 22 людини. За даними МНС країни, постраждали 18 школярів і чотири вчителі, які перебували в рентген-відділенні під час планового медогляду.
За попередніми даними, вибух стався в котельні, і причиною могла стати несправність котла.
Персонал медзакладу оцінив вибух як «дуже потужний».
Влада створила спеціальну комісію для розслідування причин вибуху.
…
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared war on food inflation. With food prices rising nearly 30 percent and looming critical local elections next month Erdogan is turning to unconventional methods to rein in costs.
Subsidized food is being sold at distribution centers in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, along with several provincial cities. The centers are part of Erdogan’s war on inflation.
In the pouring rain in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district people patiently line up to take advantage of reduced prices. With staples like onions and potatoes tripling in price, the distribution centers appear welcome by people seeking relief from soaring price tags.
“The food prices are high. Sometimes you go to the street market and go back home without buying anything,” said Sule who works at a nearby university. “Why? Because the produce is so expensive. You go near the leeks, and you see it is 6, 7 lira. Spinach prices rose up to 10 liras. Ok, I can afford some, but larger families cannot buy at these prices.”
Last year’s currency collapse unleashed an inflationary wave, driving up costs of food production.
The inflation surge comes at an inopportune time for Erdogan’s AKP, with critical local elections for control of Turkey’s main cities scheduled in March.
Erdogan, already campaigning hard, is seeking to blame food wholesalers and supermarkets, accusing them of price gouging and even labeling them food terrorists.
“In recent days they began playing a game on Turkey. Prices of eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes, and cucumbers began to escalate. It was a terrorist attack,” said Erdogan.
“We will not allow those to launch this terror” he added. “I promise you we will deal with these terrorists who are behind these rising prices like we have dealt with other terrorists that threaten our country.”
Police are raiding supermarkets and wholesalers suspected of price gouging and hoarding. The Turkish Trade Ministry has created a computer app allowing customers to compare prices in shops and report those suspected of overcharging.
Major supermarkets, seeking to avoid Erdogan’s wrath, are slashing prices. Shop signs claim products are now being sold below cost, along with rationing on what can be bought.
“This has nothing to do with economics,” said economist Cengiz Aktar. “Turkey will dearly pay for these mistakes because these are gross economic mistakes. There will be huge price increases. People will have difficulties to buy food and the public finances will collapse one day.”
Rising costs and mounting state pressure on producers and retailers, has led to a new phenomenon in Turkey, “shrinkflation.”
“Shrinkflation has started, which is instead of rising prices, companies selling in smaller formats,” explains Atilla Yesilada, analysts for Global Source Partners.
“So a 100-gram chocolate bar is now being sold for the same price but it’s only 80 grams and it’s the same for toothpaste, etc. The plates are getting smaller in cheap restaurants, as people can’t afford full portions,” added Yesilada.
Istanbul’s “Sali Pazar,” is a traditional marketplace for bargains, drawing people from across the city.
However, the combination of subsidies and the state crackdown on prices is taking its toll on small traders. “It affected our sales by 50 percent. The customers come here and see the prices and don’t buy anything. They just walk off,” said Ali, looking at his unsold potatoes, which are selling at more than twice the price as at state distribution centers.
“Prices are very high (from wholesalers), he added. “You cannot compete with the state. How can we compete with the state? The state buys it for 3.5 liras and sells it to 2 liras.”
“My sales are not falling because I have not sold anything,” said tomato seller Hulusi, waving his hands in exasperation.
“How can sales go down when you don’t have any sales in the first place,” he added. “I have been screaming my heart out since morning and sold just 2 kilos to 2 customers.”
However, for Sali Markets customers eager for bargains, Erdogan’s price war is welcome.
“With the intervention of the president there has been some drop in the prices,” said Sule. “In the previous weeks they were quite high, and this makes the people content. Hopefully, this will keep going well.”
Driving down food prices and with it, public discontent, will be critical to Erdogan’s AKP maintaining control of key cities like Istanbul in next month’s local elections, analysts say.
“All the polls show the main concern for the voter will be the economy, and they will be going to vote to register their protests,” said Yesilada. “Nationwide, I expect AKP to suffer very large losses. I would not be too surprised if they lose Istanbul or Ankara.”
…
Ukrainian voters have 44 candidates to pick from in next month’s presidential elections, but they do not feel spoiled for choice.
Among what is on offer — a popular television comic, far-right war veterans, a chest-beating male chauvinist who says feminism has gone too far, a gas princess, lawmakers and spies as well as Ukraine’s chocolate king, the incumbent, Petro Poroshenko, who is seeking a second term.
But midway through a three-month campaign full of dirty tricks, the election is not enthusing jaded voters — although the upstart insurgent bid by TV comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy is garnering surprising support and holds out the prospect of a major upset.
Recent surveys show the country’s politicians — from incumbent Poroshenko to Ukraine’s lawmakers, are held in deep disdain. A survey earlier this month suggested 82 percent of Ukrainians mistrust parliament and 71 percent feel the same way about Poroshenko.
Five years on from the Maidan uprising that drove pro-Moscow authoritarian president Viktor Yanukovych from office, Ukraine is still struggling to give birth to what people here like to term a “normal state.” The debate on whether Ukraine should look West and align with the European Union or east toward Moscow is long over. The separation from Russia now seems permanent.
Corruption persists
But Ukrainians say they still feel far from fulfilling the high domestic hopes for change sparked by the 2014 so-called “revolution for dignity” and finally exorcising the machinations of oligarchs, who freely mix politics and business in equal measure to rig the system
The election campaign is not helping to persuade them otherwise. “This is one of the filthiest campaigns I’ve seen,” says Eugene Rysunkov, a translator.
Poroshenko, the 53-year-old billionaire dubbed the chocolate king because of his confectionary business, has been accused by opponents of running schemes to buy votes, especially in small towns where the pull of political paternalism is strong. And prosecutors and law enforcement agencies have not held back from intruding on electoral politics by opening corruption probes into candidates, seeking to embarrass them.
Some of the probes are unfinished business from the past when Yanukovych ran the country as a kleptocracy and plundered the state. But their timing is suspicious.
There have also been accusations of harassment of independent journalists. News outlet Nashi Groshi noticed the stalking of its reporters increased on the eve of publishing this week a report detailing allegations about business friends of Poroshenko growing rich on shadowy defense procurement contracts.
Ukraine’s progress has been mixed in reforming a corrupt political system in which oligarchs wield out-sized influence, manipulating politics, public opinion and bureaucrats to enrich themselves.
On Friday, the U.S. embassy warned on its Facebook page: “Five years ago today [on February 22], EuroMaidan protesters succeeded in expelling a corrupt government. Yet, corruption remains a pressing problem holding the Ukrainian people back from achieving the economic and political progress they deserve.”
Baby steps
Some analysts credit Poroshenko with some progress in introducing more transparency and starting a clean-up — improvements all the more noteworthy considering he has done so while the country has been locked in a low-intensity separatist war with Russia in the eastern region of the Donbas.
There has been a streamlining of the procedures for securing business permits, an e-declaration system has been introduced requiring officials to register their assets, and there is now an e-procurement system for government contracts, although not in the defense sector. The energy sector, too, has seen something of a clean-up, according to a major study by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, which has an international board of experts.
The institute calculates the aggregate gain from a “radical change in the rules of the game” implemented since 2014 amounts to about six percent of GDP.
Taras Lagoida, an art dealer in Kyiv specializing in Ukrainian impressionists, welcomes the anti-corruption efforts since Maidan — despite the fact he has suffered. The art market is a gauge, he says. “Since 2014 the market has been depressed locally. Before, a lot of people in government and business would think nothing of paying high prices. Now they just don’t have the cash,” he explains.
Analysts, though, warn there are serious risks of backsliding, and they say there has been little curtailing of large-scale corruption at the highest levels of government. Several businesspeople VOA interviewed say they are still being strong-armed by tax inspectors demanding bribes. And petty everyday graft remains, infuriating ordinary people forced to shell out bribes.
Prosperity elusive
More Ukrainians live below the poverty line now than before Maidan. In 2014, 15 percent were categorized as poor; but last year the number jumped 10 percent, says the World Bank.
The war in the Donbas is not helping. Ukraine has lost control of lucrative industrial and coal-mining areas in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Kyiv had to sever close economic and industrial ties with Moscow after Yanukovych’s ouster and the economy is being kept afloat thanks to multibillion-dollar international loans.
Lack of economic opportunity is driving young Ukrainians to flee, hollowing out the population. In 2017 alone 662,000 Ukrainians, more than any other nationality, were granted residency permits in EU member states.
Those remaining here complain they cannot cope. Olga, a mother of two and shop worker who lives on the outskirts of Kyiv, is one among them. “I’m lucky I suppose. I own my apartment, but I get 4,000 Hryvnia ($148) a month, but my utility bill gobbles up 3000 hryvnia, leaving me just a thousand for everything else. You try raising two kids on that.” Like many, she says the elite just get richer.
Colorful characters
And that sentiment is fueling the anti-establishment campaign of comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a TV star who is seeking to prove life can indeed imitate art.
The 41-year-old, who has a reputation of playing oligarchs off against each other with his business ventures, has become the surprise front-runner, according to opinion polls. He has pushed ahead of Poroshenko and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and now seems likely to face one or the other in a run-off after the first poll on March 31 featuring all the hopefuls.
Tymoshenko is a veteran politician whom opponents fault for opportunistic makeovers that have seen her lurching from pro-Europe to pro-Moscow positions and back again.
The protagonist of a long-running popular series called the Servant of the People, Zelenskiy plays a teacher who unexpectedly finds himself president after a student posts on YouTube one of his rants denouncing the elite. In real life, his gags and mockery of Poroshenko have enlivened the election.
Angry voters say the joke for years has been on them and maybe they cannot do any better than elect a comedian who knows how to deconstruct gags.
Fresh face
Tetiana Popova, a former Ukrainian deputy minister for information policy, says Zelenskiy is attracting support equally across east and west Ukraine, unusual for Ukrainian candidates.
And his campaign, she says, is being helped by the ugly battle between Poroshenko and Tymoshenko, who have been hurling corruption allegations against each other.
Their skirmishing has fractured government security agencies, Popova says. “The ministry of internal affairs has been targeting Poroshenko’s circle with probes and arrests; while the SBU intelligence agency has been targeting Tymoshenko’s people,” she adds.
Irina Venediktova, a law professor and Zelenskiy adviser, says, “if we didn’t have Zelenskiy, we’d have to invent him. We need a new person, a champion of direct democracy. He’s genuine, he’s different and he’s exciting civil society. His network of advisers and volunteers aren’t connected by money or by the possibility of future benefits, but by the idea of real democratic reform.”
Zelinskiy’s upstart candidacy has some blinking in the Western diplomatic community. Diplomats voice frustration with Poroshenko, but say at least he is a known quantity. Zelinskiy’s lack of government experience worries them. But Venediktova says his outside status is one of his strengths. “It will help him find practical and innovative solutions,” she says.
your ad hereKenya’s ride-hailing company ‘Little Cab’ is expanding to Tanzania and Ghana. The company will start offering rides in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam next week and plans to launch in Accra by May. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports.
…
Печерський районний суд Києва 25 лютого обрав запобіжний захід колишньому голові Генштабу ЗСУ Володимиру Замані, якого підозрюють у державній зраді.
Заману триматимуть під вартою до 27 березня без права внесення застави.
Замана очолював Генеральний штаб з лютого 2012 року до лютого 2014 року. 25 лютого прокуратура повідомила, що його затримали за підозрою в державній зраді. Замані інкримінують скорочення складу Збройних сил України, зокрема кількості авіаційних військових частин, що «фактично позбавило протиповітряної оборони» Україну, й передачу Військово-морським силам військових частин Повітряних сил ЗСУ. За словами головного військового прокурора Анатолія Матіоса, останній крок надав значні переваги Росії у контролі та блокуванні дислокованих у Криму підрозділів ЗСУ під час анексії півострова.
Крім того, Замані закидають знищення військових комісаріатів, що, за версією правоохоронців, заблокувало мобілізацію у 2014 році.
…
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday pledged to “sooner than later” make public 10 years of his tax returns and vowed to support the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, saying he held no grudges against the Democratic National Committee over his unsuccessful 2016 campaign.
Sanders appeared at a town hall hosted by CNN ahead of the official launch of his 2020 presidential campaign with events this weekend in Brooklyn, where he grew up, and Chicago, where he graduated from college. He joins a crowded field of nearly a dozen other contenders, including a number of fellow senators.
Asked Monday whether he would release a decade’s worth of his tax returns, as 2020 rival Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has already done, Sanders said that he would.
“Our tax returns will bore you to death, nothing special about them,” Sanders said, adding that his wife, Jane, does most of his taxes rather than using an accountant.
Sanders’ fellow contenders for the Democratic nomination have made similar pledges of transparency, in stark contrast with President Donald Trump, who has refused to release his tax returns, saying they are under audit. He is the only president in modern history to decline to do so.
During his first presidential bid, Sanders endured questioning by Hillary Clinton over why he had not released several years of his tax returns and had instead opted to release just his 2014 tax returns. Sanders said Monday that he would have released more of his tax returns had he been the Democratic nominee.
Sanders’ plan to release a decade’s worth of tax returns was first reported by National Journal.
Sanders took questions from attendees in Washington on a variety of issues, including allegations of sexual harassment and other mistreatment of female staffers who worked on his first presidential campaign.
Sanders said his 2018 senatorial campaign had instituted strong protocols to handle any incidents of harassment. He said that all staffers on his presidential campaign would receive training on harassment and would have access to an independent entity if they experience harassment.
“I was very upset to learn what I learned,” Sanders said, adding, “It was very painful, very painful.”
Sanders clashed with the DNC during his first White House bid, especially after WikiLeaks released stolen documents and emails in which DNC officials appeared to support Clinton’s campaign over Sanders’. Sanders said Monday that he did not have lingering issues with the DNC, despite believing the group was “not quite even-handed” in 2016.
“I think we have come a long way since then, and I fully expect to be treated quite as well as anyone else,” Sanders said.
In response to a question Monday, he defended the role he played as a surrogate for Clinton’s campaign after she won the nomination. He referenced an October 2016 letter sent to him by Clinton in which she thanked him for campaigning for her in multiple states.
Sanders said he would back the eventual 2020 Democratic nominee, whomever that may be.
“I hope and believe that every Democratic candidate will come together after the nominee is selected and make certain that Donald Trump is not re-elected president of the United States,” Sanders said. “I pledge certainly to do that.”
Asked how he would engage with Trump on the debate stage if he is the Democratic presidential nominee, Sanders said he would “bring a lie detector along.”
“Every time he lies, it goes ‘beep,'” Sanders said as the audience laughed. “That would be the first thing.”
…
A slowing economy is unlikely to crimp China’s 2019 defense budget rise, as Beijing earmarks more spending for modernization and big-ticket items like stealth jets, and focuses on Taiwan after a stern new year’s speech from President Xi Jinping.
The defense spending figure is closely watched worldwide for clues to China’s strategic intentions as it develops new military capabilities, including aircraft carriers and anti-satellite missiles.
In 2018, China unveiled its largest defense spending increase in three years, setting an 8.1 percent growth target for the year, fueling an ambitious military upgrade program and making its neighbors nervous.
The 2019 number should be revealed at the March 5 opening of the annual session of China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament, although in 2017 it was initially not announced, prompting renewed concerns about transparency.
China plans to set a lower economic growth target of 6-6.5 percent in 2019 compared with last year’s target of around 6.5 percent, policy sources have told Reuters. The government will also announced the economic growth target on March 5.
However, the defense budget increase could well surpass that.
Influential state-run tabloid the Global Times, which takes a strongly nationalistic line, this month cited an unidentified military expert as saying “a stable 8-9 percent increase from 2018 would be a reasonable prediction.”
China still has a long way to go to catch Western forces because the number of advanced weapons now in its arsenal, such as the J-20 stealth fighter, remain limited, the paper said.
Xie Yue, a professor of political science at Tongji University in Shanghai and a security expert, said with a weakening economy there would naturally be an expectation for a slower increase in military spending.
“It should go down, as the defense budget is connected to economic growth, but certainly factors will probably mean it will still go up, like the South China Sea and Taiwan issues,” Xie said.
Xi’s January speech threatening to attack Taiwan should it not accept Chinese rule has shot the issue back up the agenda for China’s military thinkers, especially as the island gears up for presidential elections next year.
“The Taiwan question can’t keep being put off, passed down through the generations,” retired Chinese Major General Luo Yuan, one of the country’s most prominent and widely read military commentators, wrote on his blog last month. “Our generation must complete our historic mission.”
‘Itching for a fight’
One source with ties to China’s military said the armed forces were itching for a fight over self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its sacred territory, especially after Xi’s speech.
“Every day, they’re like ‘fight, fight, fight,'” said the source, who regularly meets senior officers.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly warned of the threat from China, and vowed to defend the island and its democratic way of life. The United States has said it is closely watching Chinese intentions towards Taiwan.
“Even with just a broom, I would fight against China,” Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang told parliament last week. “You would pay a price if you want to annex Taiwan.”
The United States again sent two Navy ships through the Taiwan Strait on Monday as the U.S. military increased the frequency of movement through the strategic waterway despite opposition from China.
China’s Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on this year’s military budget. China routinely says spending is for defensive purposes only, comparatively small and that critics just want to keep the country down.
“What people are scared of is China getting strong,” said Xu Guangyu, a senior consultant at the China Arm Control and Disarmament Association and another former senior Chinese officer, dismissing concerns about defense spending.
U.S. President Donald Trump has backed plans to request $750 billion from Congress for defense spending in 2019. That compares with the 1.11 trillion yuan ($165.40 billion) China set for its military budget in 2018.
China provides no breakdown of its defense budget, leading neighbors and other military powers to complain that Beijing’s lack of transparency has added to regional tension. China says it is fully transparent and no threat.
Diplomats and many foreign experts say China’s defense numbers probably underestimate true military spending for the People’s Liberation Army, the world’s largest armed forces, which also runs the country’s space program.
…
Relief swept across world financial markets Monday after President Donald Trump pushed back a March 2 deadline in a trade dispute with China.
But the respite might not last.
The world’s two biggest economies have squared off over Beijing’s aggressive campaign to turn Chinese companies into world leaders in advanced industries such as robotics and electric vehicles. Both sides have said they’ve made progress but haven’t provided much detail.
“Popping the champagne today would be premature,” Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a research note.
Daco added that vast differences between the two countries “will prevent a significant de-escalation of trade tensions between the two giants.”
In the United States, business groups and lawmakers fear that Trump will settle for a deal that doesn’t require China to change its sharp-elbowed business practices.
A look at the dispute:
What Are the U.S. and CHINA Fighting About?
The United States accuses China of deploying predatory tactics in a headlong push to challenge American technological dominance. These, the U.S. says, include: outright theft of trade secrets, forcing foreign companies to hand over technology as the price of access to the Chinese market, and unfairly subsidizing Chinese tech companies and using regulations to hobble their foreign competitors.
The accusations elevate the standoff from a typical trade dispute to a battle over whether the United States or China dominates the industries of the future, the outcome of which has implications for national security.
Trump is also obsessed with America’s massive trade deficit with China, $336 billion in 2017 and likely higher last year.
Critics complain that the administration has been inconsistent about what it wants — sometimes demanding sweeping changes in Chinese economic policy, sometimes seeming willing to settle for China just buying more American stuff to narrow the trade deficit.
Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center think tank, said he would be disappointed if the Trump administration settles only for more exports to China and vague promises to make structural reforms. “The Trump administration could have had that in week one,” Daly said.
What’s Happened So Far?
In July, the Trump administration gradually began slapping import taxes on Chinese goods to pressure Beijing into changing its policies. It now has imposed 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports and 25 percent tariffs on another $50 billion.
Twice, Trump has pushed back plans to raise the tariffs on the $200 billion to 25 percent. He extended a Jan. 1 deadline by three months after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires Dec. 1. And on Sunday, following meetings last week between U.S. and Chinese negotiators, he delayed indefinitely the tariff hike that was scheduled to kick in at 12:01 EST March 2.
The U.S. is also restricting Chinese investment in high-tech American industries and U.S. exports of sensitive technology to China.
Meanwhile, the Chinese have punched back by slapping import taxes on $110 billion in U.S. goods, focusing on soybeans and agricultural products in a direct shot at Trump supporters in the American farm belt.
Forecasters at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have all downgraded their forecasts for the global economy, citing the heightened trade tensions.
Are U.S. and Chinese Negotiators Making Headway?
They say they are but haven’t provided many particulars. Trump tweeted Sunday that negotiators had made “substantial progress” on issues including protection of intellectual property, coerced tech transfer, currency manipulation and U.S. access to the Chinese farm and services markets among “many other issues.” China’s official Xinhua news agency echoed that assessment.
Trump has said he would likely have to meet one-on-one with Xi — probably late next month at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida — to resolve the thorniest issues.
What Happens Next?
Trump sees the stock market as a measure of the success of his economic policies. Investors’ view is clear: When U.S.-China negotiations go well, American stocks rise. When talks falter, they drop.
So the question is whether Trump, having taken U.S.-China economic relations to the brink, has the patience to hold out in the face of likely stock-market volatility for an enforceable deal that requires China to change its behavior. Or whether he’ll agree to more exports and promises of change.
“If the U.S. has already achieved quite a bit, and we are just clarifying the details of substantial Chinese concessions, then that’s not a huge concern,” said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “But if the U.S. has come away with very little in terms of binding commitments (after dropping the tariff deadline), then the chance of getting more in the coming weeks could be quite low.”
Daly at the Wilson Center faulted the administration for not imposing a new deadline. “They are expert at the use of time and delay until conditions have changed and leverage has been lost, to get a better outcome,” he said.
Trump has also alarmed Canada and critics by suggesting the U.S. might drop criminal charges against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in a quest to cut a deal. The U.S. has charged Huawei with lying about violating sanctions against Iran and with stealing trade secrets. Canada arrested Meng Dec. 1 at America’s request and is weighing whether to extradite her to the United States. China arrested two Canadians in apparent retaliation.
Former Canadian Ambassador to China David Mulroney tweeted Monday that “it’s now the US that has to hang tough, and not sell out its integrity in Huawei case for a trade deal with China.”
…
Lawyers for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Monday asked a federal judge in Washington to impose a prison term “significantly below the statutory maximum” when he is sentenced on March 13, according to a court filing.
Manafort pleaded guilty in a federal court in Washington last September to conspiracy against the United States — a charge that includes a range of conduct from money laundering to unregistered lobbying — and conspiracy to obstruct justice for attempts to tamper with witnesses.
He can be sentenced up to five years for each count, for a statutory maximum of 10 years.
“We respectfully request that the Court impose a sentence significantly below the statutory maximum sentence in this case,” Manafort’s lawyers said in the filing.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team said in a filing on Saturday that Manafort, 69, “repeatedly and brazenly” broke the law, and argued he did not deserve leniency at sentencing.
While Mueller did not recommend a specific sentence, he portrayed Manafort as a “hardened” criminal who was at risk of repeating criminal behavior if released from prison.
Mueller is investigating allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and any collusion between Russia and the campaign of President Donald Trump.
Russia denies trying to interfere in the election, and Trump says his team did not collude with Moscow.
Manafort is due to be sentenced on March 8 in a separate case in Alexandria, Virginia. He faces up to 25 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines in that case, in which he was convicted last year of financial crimes.
In Monday’s filing, Manafort’s lawyers asked the Washington judge to impose a concurrent sentence if he receives prison sentences in both cases.
…
Russian state television has listed U.S. military facilities that Moscow would target in the event of a nuclear strike, and said that a hypersonic missile Russia is developing would be able to hit them in less than five minutes.
The targets included the Pentagon and the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland.
The report, unusual even by the sometimes bellicose standards of Russian state TV, was broadcast on Sunday evening, days after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was militarily ready for a “Cuban Missile”-style crisis if the United States wanted one.
With tensions rising over Russian fears that the United States might deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe as a Cold War-era arms-control treaty unravels, Putin has said Russia would be forced to respond by placing hypersonic nuclear missiles on submarines near U.S. waters.
The United States says it has no immediate plans to deploy such missiles in Europe and has dismissed Putin’s warnings as disingenuous propaganda. It does not currently have ground-based intermediate-range nuclear missiles that it could place in Europe.
However, its decision to quit the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty over an alleged Russian violation, something Moscow denies, has freed it to start developing and deploying such missiles.
Putin has said Russia does not want a new arms race, but has also dialed up his military rhetoric.
The Pentagon said that Putin’s threats only helped unite NATO.
“Every time Putin issues these bombastic threats and touts his new doomsday devices, he should know he only deepens NATO’s resolve to work together to ensure our collective security,” Eric Pahon, a Pentagon spokesman, said.
Some analysts have seen his approach as a tactic to try to re-engage the United States in talks about the strategic balance between the two powers, something Moscow has long pushed for, with mixed results.
In the Sunday evening broadcast, Dmitry Kiselyov, presenter of Russia’s main weekly TV news show ‘Vesti Nedeli,’ showed a map of the United States and identified several targets he said Moscow would want to hit in the event of a nuclear war.
The targets, which Kiselyov described as U.S. presidential or military command centers, also included Fort Ritchie, a military training center in Maryland closed in 1998, McClellan, a U.S. Air Force base in California closed in 2001, and Jim Creek, a naval communications base in Washington state.
Kiselyov, who is close to the Kremlin, said the “Tsirkon” (‘Zircon’) hypersonic missile that Russia is developing could hit the targets in less than five minutes if launched from Russian submarines.
Hypersonic flight is generally taken to mean traveling through the atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound.
“For now, we’re not threatening anyone, but if such a deployment takes place, our response will be instant,” he said.
Kiselyov is one of the main conduits of state television’s strongly anti-American tone, once saying Moscow could turn the United States into radioactive ash.
Asked to comment on Kiselyov’s report, the Kremlin said on Monday it did not interfere in state TV’s editorial policy.
…
У Брюсселі 26 лютого відбудеться черговий раунд переговорів щодо виходу Великої Британії з Євросоюзу. У зустрічі візьмуть участь британський міністр у справах Brexit Стівен Барклі і головний переговірник ЄС Мішель Барньє.
Головною темою їхніх переговорів стане доля угоди, яка має набрати чинності 29 березня. Цей документ досі не затвердили члени британської Палати громад.
Лейбористів і частину консерваторів не влаштовує питання кордону між Ірландією і Північною Ірландією. Вони побоюються, що британський регіон може фактично залишитися в митному союзі і єдиному ринку Євросоюзу, і Лондон таким чином назавжди буде прив’язаний до ЄС. У Брюсселі неодноразово наголошували, що не мають наміру вносити в угоду зміни.
У результаті Brexit може відбутися без будь-яких домовленостей. Британський прем’єр Тереза Мей обіцяє, що повторне голосування щодо договору відбудеться до 12 березня. Таку заяву вона зробила після зустрічі з головою Єврокомісії Жан-Клодом Юнкером.
…
The $8 billion Green Climate Fund, set up to help developing nations tackle global warming, named Yannick Glemarec of France as its new executive director Monday after his predecessor quit.
Former leader Howard Bamsey of Australia stepped down in July after what the fund described as a “difficult” board meeting marred by disputes between rich and poor nations about how to select projects in developing nations.
“Yannick Glemarec brings 30 years of experience in climate change, development, finance and their inter-relationships,” the fund said in a statement. He has previously had senior jobs at U.N. Women and the U.N. Development Program.
The fund, set up in South Korea in 2014, is trying to help developing nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt their economies to extremes such as floods, droughts, downpours and rising sea levels.
It has been plagued by internal disputes and U.S. President Donald Trump denounced it as a waste of taxpayer dollars. He halted U.S. contributions as part of his decision to leave the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
Trump’s decision cut the fund to $8 billion from $10 billion originally pledged. The United States under President Barack Obama promised a total of $3 billion but had provided just $1 billion by the time Trump took office.
The fund has a portfolio of 93 projects in developing nations worth about $4.6 billion. It had been led by interim chief Javier Manzanares of Spain since Bamsey quit.
…
Міністр закордонних справ Ірану Мохаммад Джавад Заріф оголосив про свою відставку. Заяву такого змісту він оприлюднив у мережі Instagram увечері 25 лютого.
«Велика подяка дорогим і поважним людям Ірану за останні 67 місяців. Я щиро прошу вибачення за неможливість продовжити службу і всі вади під час цієї служби. Я дякую іранському народу і офіційним особам», – відзначив Заріф.
Мохаммад Джавад Заріф очолював іранське зовнішньополітичне відомство від серпня 2013 року, коли замінив на цій посаді Алі Акбара Салехі, нинішнього голову Атомної організації Ірану.
Як міністр закордонних справ Заріф очолював іранську переговорну групу зі США, Росією, Китаєм, Великою Британію, Францією та Німеччиною. 14 липня 2015 року сторони уклали знакову ядерну угоду, відому як Спільний комплексний план, згідно з яким Іран зобов’язався припинити свою ядерну діяльність у відповідь на скасування міжнародних економічних санкцій.
…
«Ті, хто гастролює у державі-агресорі, не повинні представляти Україну. У цьому суть позиції» – В’ячеслав Кириленко
…
Колишнього начальника Генерального штабу – головнокомандувача Збройних сил України Володимира Заману затримали за підозрою в державній зраді, заявив головний військовий прокурор Анатолій Матіос під час брифінгу в Києві.
«Колишній начальник Генерального штабу підозрюється у вчиненні злочину, передбаченого частиною 1 статті 111 Кримінального кодексу України («державна зрада»)», – сказав Матіос.
Замані оголосили підозру 25 лютого.
За його словами, внаслідок «особисто підписаних Заманою директив» загалом із Збройних сил України підлягало скороченню на 4 646 осіб більше, ніж передбачалося законом України про чисельність ЗСУ на 2012 рік.
Він додав, що в період роботи Замани на посаді голови Генштабу були розформовані зенітно-ракетні дивізіони, на озброєнні яких перебували зенітно-ракетні комплекси С-300В.
«19 авіаційних військових частин (були розформовані – ред.)… Наголошую: авіаційних військових частин. А також 114 бригада тактичної авіації була переформатована з бригади в ескадрилью. Тобто розформування цих військових частин і підрозділів фактично позбавило протиповітряної оборони всю нашу державу», – вважає Матіос.
Крім того, 27 серпня 2012 року Замана підписав директиву про оперативне підпорядкування командуванню Військово-морських сил військових частин Повітряних сил ЗСУ.
«У результаті чого з 1 вересня 2012 року в оперативне підпорядкування ВМС увійшло управління тактичної групи «Крим» із підпорядкованими військовими частинами, у тому числі 204 бригада тактичної авіації. Ці зазначені частини, які перебували на території Автономної Республіки Крим і були сформовані з найбільш дієздатних, боєздатних, новітніх і нових видів озброєння, мали можливість відбити будь-який напад», – сказав Матіос.
За його словами, це надало значні переваги Росії у контролі та блокуванні дислокованих у Криму підрозділів ЗСУ під час анексії півострова.
Замана очолював Генеральний штаб з лютого 2012 року до лютого 2014 року. Його реакція на звинувачення наразі невідома.
…
Сімом російським військовим повідомили про підозру у веденні агресивної війни у справі про захоплення 24 українських моряків і трьох кораблів у листопаді 2018 року, повідомляє Генеральна прокуратура України.
За повідомленням, серед тих, кому повідомили підозру – командувач військ Південного військового округу Росії Олександр Дворніков, командувач Чорноморського флоту Росії, віце-адмірал Олександр Моісеєв, а також п’ятеро російських прикордонників.
У прокуратурі нагадують, що через два дні після інциденту, 27 лютого, схожу підозру вже оголосили вісьмом російським військовим.
«Досудовим розслідуванням установлено, що всі 15 військовослужбовців Російської Федерації, яким вже повідомлено про підозру, причетні до ведення агресивної війни. Зокрема, організовували, координували і брали участь у нападі військових суден РФ й інших військових службових осіб Чорноморського флоту і Прикордонної служби ФСБ Російської Федерації на катери ВМС України, внаслідок чого українські військові зазнали поранень та були захоплені разом з військовою технікою», – йдеться в повідомленні.
Російські силовики захопили 24 українських моряків і три кораблі поблизу Керченської протоки 25 листопада 2018 року. Російські слідчі звинувачують українських військових у незаконному перетині кордону Росії.
За рішенням суду у Москві захоплені українські моряки мають залишитися в СІЗО до кінця квітня.
Україна вважає те, що сталося, актом агресії, а своїх військових, яких утримують у московських слідчих ізоляторах, військовополоненими.
…