Ukraine: Daily Briefing – October 3, 2018, 5 PM Kyiv time

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reported at 12:30 PM Kyiv time that in the last 24 hours, one Ukrainian soldier was killed and two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in action. In the last 24 hours, Russian-terrorist forces opened fire on Ukrainian positions on the Luhansk and Donetsk sectors of the front 34 times in total, including at least 7 times with heavy weapons. Returning fire, Ukrainian forces killed 3 and wounded 3 enemy combatants in the last 24 hours.

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) reported, “Lawyer Dmitry Dinze has confirmed a sharp deterioration in Oleh Sentsov’s condition which almost certainly explained his being taken to hospital on 28 September.

           The heart, kidney and liver problems are particularly worrying as Sentsov has had a heart condition since childhood but are not in any way surprising after 143 days on hunger strike.  Back on 11 September, Sentsov’s cousin Natalya Kaplan informed that he had also developed hypoxia, with the blood circulation system not able to properly provide oxygen to vital organs, in the first instance the heart and brain.

          The doctors at the hospital have prescribed various medication, glucose and the supplement that he has been taking to keep his organs from failing for as long as possible.

          They cannot continue functioning without sustenance indefinitely, and at present there is no sign of progress of ensuring even Sentsov’s release, let alone the release of around 70 Ukrainian political prisoners as Sentsov is demanding.  Since 14 May when Sentsov began his hunger strike, the number of political prisoners has only increased. […]

           In Sentsov’s case, public attention is at least forcing the authorities to ensure that he is under proper medical supervision.  The same is not true of many other Ukrainians, including Volodymyr Balukh, who has been on full or almost full hunger strike since March of this year, and whose life is also in immediate danger.  […] Virtually all the prisoners are held thousands of kilometres from their families and homes.  Many have now not seen their children for years.

           Oleh Sentsov is on hunger strike for all of them. There are ways of increasing the cost to Putin of allowing Sentsov, Balukh or other prisoners to die.  The West does have economic levers if they choose to use them.  Up till now they have failed to use even diplomatic methods, with state visits to Russia, etc. seen this year on a scale unprecedented since Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

          There is a danger that the Council of Europe will change its rules on applying sanctions on 8 October. While this will supposedly not affect the sanctions now in place against Russia, the aim of the changes is believed to be in order to allow Russia to return  to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE].               The latter body has, like all international structures, demanded that Russia release Sentsov, Balukh, and all other Ukrainian political prisoners.  All such demands will be seen to be hollow and meaningless if Russia gets its way while letting innocent men, the victims of its aggression against Ukraine, die.”

The full report from KHPG is available here: Sentsov’s condition worsens amid unrelenting brutality to all of Russia’s Ukrainian political prisoners

Reuters reported on October 2, “Ukraine’s interior minister said on Tuesday a suspect in the Skripal poisoning case, working for Russian military intelligence, had been identified in Ukraine as a man who helped the former Ukrainian president flee to Russia in 2014.

           It was not immediately clear whether minister Arsen Avakov was citing information from Ukrainian intelligence or quoting the accounts of journalists. He released a statement following a meeting with a British minister. […]

            Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found slumped on a public bench in the English city of Salisbury in March. Britain says they were poisoned with a nerve agent administered by Russian intelligence officers.

            The Skripals survived, but a woman who lived in the area, unconnected with them, later died from what British police say was contact with the poison used, which her partner had found in a discarded perfume bottle. […]

           ‘Interior Minister Arsen Avakov noted that one of the participants in the attack in the Salisbury, an officer of the GRU of the Russian Federation, had been recognised in Ukraine as a person who had been involved in transporting ex-president Yanukovich from Ukraine,’ the minister’s statement said. Avakov did not identify which of the two Skripal suspects had helped Yanukovich escape.”

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers reported, “Ukraine and China intend to double their mutual trade turnover – up to $10 billion, and explore new opportunities for cooperation in agribusiness, construction, primarily infrastructure projects, energy and other spheres. Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman made this statement during a meeting with H.E. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Ukraine Mr. Du Wei. The Head of Government noted that the potential of relations between the two countries is deepening each year, and the areas of mutual interest are expanding. […]

            During the meeting, the Prime Minister thanked the Ambassador of China for the successful completion of the project on the provision of ambulance vehicles for Ukraine, and also expressed hope for successful holding of the international exhibition China International Import Expo 2018, which will be attended by the Ukrainian delegation.”