Ukraine: Daily Briefing – January 17, 2018, 6 PM Kyiv time

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported at 12:30 PM Kyiv time that during the night two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and five Ukrainian soldiers were wounded when their military vehicle struck an unidentified explosive device. Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in action in the last 24 hours. In the last 24 hours, Russian-terrorist forces opened fire on Ukrainian positions on the Luhansk and Donetsk sectors of the front three times.

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) reported, “The Russian occupation authorities in Crimea have made no attempt to investigate the death of 83-year-old veteran of the Crimean Tatar national movement, Vedzhie Kashka, minutes after the FSB’s extraordinary attempt to arrest her.  Instead the very lives of two of the four men arrested in the same ‘case’ are being placed in danger as part of a cynical and futile attempt to discredit Crimean Tatars.

           Russian lawyer Nikolai Polozov noted back in December that the treatment of 57-year-old Bekir Degermendzhy and 65-year-old Asan Chapukh was tantamount to torture.  Degermendzhy suffers from severe asthma, and should not have been imprisoned from the outset.  Chapukh seems to have had a partial stroke shortly after his arrest, and has lost control of one side of his body and his speech is affected.

         The conditions in the SIZO or remand prison are appalling even for younger men in reasonable health, and medical care, if provided, is at a very poor level.  It is impossible, Polozov writes, even to pass medicine into SIZO, with the need to confirm any list of medication leading to delays of more than a week.

         Degermendzhy was unable to breathe and could obviously not wait so long. His state became so critical that he was finally admitted to an emergency ward.  There, however, he was held under guard, and his wife was not allowed to see him.  He was moved, as soon as his condition stabilized, supposedly to a normal ward, though in fact to the corridor outside the ward, and then back to the SIZO.

        Despite the evident danger to his life, if held in such conditions, the Russian-controlled Kievsky District court in Simferopol on January 12 remanded Degermendzhy; Chapuk; Kyazim Ametov and Ruslan Trubach in custody for a further three months, until 15 March.  The court hearing was held behind closed doors, presumably to avoid more shameful photos becoming public of the tortured 57-year-old wearing a respiratory mask to enable him to breathe.”

The full report from KHPG is available at Russia’s imprisonment of gravely ill Crimean Tatar veteran activists amounts to torture

NATO Chiefs of Defence Session. Photo – NATO

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence reported, “Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General of the Army of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko participated in two Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Sessions held in Brussels.

          The committee participants were briefed on Projecting Stability Initiatives, current security situation in the Middle East and North Africa region. They also discussed partnership in issues of regional security between the European Union and NATO, as well as improvement of partnership forms in the framework of the mentioned initiative.

         The participants were given situation briefs from partners of Resolute Support NATO-led Mission in Afghanistan.

         General Muzhenko held a range of bilateral talks with NATO and partners political and military leaders and discussed the security situation in and around Ukraine and further cooperation development.”

Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance reported, “During his working visit to the USA, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oleksandr Danyliuk met Deputy Director of [Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] FinCEN Jamal El-Hindi.

          The parties discussed current issues related to the cooperation of FinCEN with Ukrainian state agencies and possible areas for future cooperation. Jamal El-Hindi stated that FinCEN is satisfied with its cooperation with Ukraine, especially with the State Financial Monitoring Agency.

         He also said that he will be closely watching the establishment of the Financial Investigation Service in Ukraine (FIS), which shall be a united body to fight financial crimes against the state. Special attention during the meeting was paid to the interaction between the FIS and other state agencies, especially the State Financial Monitoring Agency, which is needed to ensure effective investigations.

         Also, Jamal El-Hindi stated that his agency is ready to support Ukraine in establishing this new effective state body.

         Previously, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine also agreed the organization of trainings for the future employees of the FIS which will be supported by the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.”