Crisis in Ukraine: Daily Briefing
15 September 2015, 8 PM Kyiv time
1. Russian Invasion of Ukraine
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (RNBO) reported at 12:30 PMKyiv time that towards Donetsk, Russian-terrorist forces fired on Ukrainian positions near Mayorsk and Zaytseve (north of occupied Horlivka) with small arms and grenade launchers. There was no combat on the Luhansk and Mariupol sectors of the front. The RNBO reported that in the last 24 hours, no Ukrainian soldiers were killed and two were wounded.
2. Russian court extends Savchenko’s imprisonment; trial to begin September 22
A Russian court ruled that Ukrainian pilot and MP Nadiya Savchenko, illegally imprisoned by Russia for over a year, will remain in prison in Russia for at least another six months, Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty reported. Her trial will begin on22 September, her lawyer Mark Feygin reported. Feygin stated that the Russian court rejected the defense’s appeal based on Savchenko’s right to diplomatic immunity as a delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Savchenko was serving in eastern Ukraine, when abducted by Kremlin-backed terrorists in June 2014 and taken to Russia, where she has been illegally detained and imprisoned since that time. Russia has ignored repeated calls from the international community for her immediate release.
3. US State Department: Crimea sanctions to stay in place until sovereignty over Crimea returned to Ukraine
Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy Annual Meeting on 12 September in Kyiv, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs V. Nuland stated, “On overall support to Ukraine, as long as Ukraine stays on the path of reform, on the path of democracy, on the path of Europe, we will strongly support with technical assistance, with economic assistance, but it requires the unity of all reformist forces, as I said. With regard to peace and security and the Minsk process and the future of Crimea, we’ve been very clear that sanctions will stay in place until Minsk is fully implemented. If and when Minsk is fully implemented, including return of Ukraine’s sovereignty of its border, we can begin to roll back some sanctions, but if Minsk is further violated, there will be more costs and we will push with our European partners for that. And with regard to Crimea, sanctions stay in place on Crimea unless and until its sovereignty is returned to Ukraine. We will continue with our security support to ensure that the Ukrainian military continues to grow in its capability to defend its territory, but we will also stay involved in the diplomatic process.” A full transcript of Nuland’s remarks is available at http://ukraine.usembassy.gov/
4. National Anti-Corruption Bureau Detectives sworn in
Seventy detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine were sworn in today. The detectives were hired from over 2700 applicants. Ukrainian President P. Poroshenko held a meeting with the detectives and “emphasized that any issue touched upon at the international meetings – visa-free regime for Ukraine, IMF loans, funds from the World Bank – is related to the struggle against corruption,” Poroshenko’s press service reported. “In a year, we have created absolutely new Armed Forces that are one of the most combat capable and brave armies on the continent. Now, we need a powerful anti-corruption army inside Ukraine that will help us defeat the enemy no less dangerous than the aggressor from the East […] The main results are not the number of criminal proceedings or detained bribers. The main results are the number of court sentences,” Poroshenko stated.
5. Ukraine Parliament passes reforms to state procurement process
Ukraine’s Parliament adopted changes to legislation on state procurement. “The goal of the legislation is to significantly lower the risk of corruption, the creation of mechanisms to prevent the misuse of the appeal process during state procurement procedures, increasing the level of competition by simplifying participation in procurement processes for business, and bringing the state procurement system in line with international standards,” the Parliament stated. The new legislative changes will apply to all orders and procurements of goods and services that exceed 200,000 UAH. The new law provides access to information on public tenders, their price, owners of enterprises, and protocols of assessments. The Cabinet of Ministers stated that the law “will also speed up the signing of the WTO agreement on government procurement and an international market entry of Ukrainian companies.”
