Ukraine: Weekly Bulletin – October 27-November 2, 2018

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence reported that during the week of October 26-November 1, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and ten Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in action on the eastern front. Throughout the week, Russian-terrorist forces opened fire 127 times on Ukrainian positions on the Luhansk and Donetsk sectors of the front, including at least 21 times with heavy weapons – mortars and artillery. Ukraine’s Joint Forces Operation headquarters reported that returning fire, Ukrainian forces killed 12 and wounded 27 enemy combatants in the last week.

Press conference of Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Ukraine’s Presidential Administration reported on November 1, “President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel discussed the importance of terminating the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

           ‘We discussed the situation in Donbas and Crimea, including in the field of human rights. I have brought up new incontrovertible proofs of Russian criminal actions against Ukraine, handed over the relevant documents. At the same time, I reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to the Minsk agreements and Ukraine’s readiness to fulfill the security component of the Minsk agreements in order to move to a political component,’ President Poroshenko said during a joint meeting with media representatives.

           At the same time, he stressed that a vivid testimony to Ukraine’s readiness is the decision of the Parliament on the adoption of the law and his proposals on the continuation of the Law of Ukraine on the Special Order of Local Self-Government in Certain Districts of Donetsk and Luhansk Regions.

          ‘But it is quite obvious that the effectiveness of the Minsk agreements depends not only on Ukraine, but also on their conscientious implementation by Russia. No one doubts that it is Russia that stimulates the escalation of the conflict. And you were able to see this during the last debate at the UN Security Council on October 30,’ Petro Poroshenko emphasized. He stated that ‘unfortunately, the security situation in Donbas remains complicated, the other side constantly provokes exacerbation.’

           ‘Therefore, today we strongly condemned the continued shelling with forbidden weapons, which is being carried out from the uncontrolled territories of Ukraine. It is inadmissible that people continue to die because of the actions of the aggressor, including civilians, including women and children,’ Petro Poroshenko concluded.

            In turn, the Federal Chancellor of Germany emphasized close cooperation in the Minsk format. ‘We have nothing else but the Minsk process. It is very important that Ukraine fulfills its obligations, even if it is difficult. Germany will be on the side of Ukraine on this issue. Once again, I want to confirm that the territorial integrity is decisive and significant. Ukraine should choose its pass itself,’ Angela Merkel said.

           ‘Unfortunately, we do not have a stable truce, soldiers continue to die on the line of delimitation. We need to intensify our efforts regarding the delimitation areas,’ she said, adding that the efforts to implement the UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas should be enhanced.”

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers reported on November 1, “Ukraine and Germany have set strategic goals to build up their mutual trade turnover to EUR 10 billion against the current USD 8 billion a year and are finalizing preparations for the Third German-Ukrainian Forum in Berlin.

           Such opportunities were discussed by Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman and Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Angela Merkel. Germany is one of the strategic partners of Ukraine in the political and economical planes, as well as one of the largest humanitarian donors for Ukraine. […]

            ‘I am glad to visit your country again and see what has changed over the last four years. We have really close and friendly relations. Germany advocates and stands for the preservation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the promotion of economic development. We will discuss our further joint plans in-depth at the business forum in late November,’ German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized.”

photo – Canadian Army

In an article published by the Canadian Army, Roksolana Baran, Canadian Forces Language School, stated, “Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) support of English and French language training for its Allies in Ukraine goes back decades but it is only this year that such training has been offered outside Canada.

           Ukrainian personnel have traditionally come to the Canadian Forces Language School (CFLS) Saint-Jean Detachment in Quebec for the training but demand has been increasing steadily since the start of Operation UNIFIER (Op UNIFIER) in 2015.

           Through Op UNIFIER, the CAF is supporting Ukrainian security forces with equipment and training.With the growing demand beginning to outstrip capacity at Saint-Jean, the CAF’s Directorate of Military Training and Cooperation (DMTC) initiated a plan to pilot a similar 10-week English-language course in Ukraine.

           In addition to delivering the training itself, the pilot program will also help determine the overall feasibility of conducting targeted NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) language training abroad. STANAGs ensure NATO allies share common practices.

           To execute the plan, Roksolana Baran, a Pedagogical Advisor with the Military Training and Cooperation Program (MTCP) at Saint-Jean, was deployed to Ukraine from late February to late May, 2018.

           The full article is available here: Canadian Armed Forces language training goes international at Operation UNIFIER 

Ukraine’s Ministry of Health reported, “Every year, specialized international organizations that support Ukraine in procurement of medicines and healthcare products conduct transparent tenders and negotiate with manufacturers on prices, which results in savings of the allocated funds. The savings are used to purchase additional medicines to provide safe and effective treatment to more patients in need.

 The effective cooperation with international organizations helped the Ukrainian government to provide free medicines to a significantly higher number of adult oncology patients. In 2016, the savings were used to purchase 90 out of all 94 centrally procured medicines.

          These infographics show that the procurement figures were much lower before 2015 when Ukraine started procuring medicines and healthcare products through specialized international organizations. For some medicines, like a chemotherapy medication Docetaxel, these figures are now five times higher, which means that five times as many patients in need are provided with this medicine than before 2015. This is a great progress, as many Ukrainian patients no longer have to purchase expensive life-saving medicines – the state provides these medicines to them free of charge.”

Ukraine Business News reported on November 2, “The first tranche of IMF agreement money should arrive by the end of this year and could be as much as $1.9 billion, Kateryna Rozhkova, the central bank deputy governor, tells reporters. Prime Minister Groysman has asked the Rada to approve the government’s 2019 budget by Dec. 1, a key hurdle to getting IMF Board approval for the support program. Another hurdle was overcome Thursday when Naftogaz raised household gas prices 23.5%.”

Ukraine Business News reported on October 29, “Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, rolls out its Ukraine service this week. By Tuesday, Ryanair will have direct flights from Kyiv Boryspil to 12 EU cities – Barcelona, Berlin-Schonefeld, Bratislava, London-Stansted, Stockholm, Vilnius and six Polish cities: Bydgoszcz, Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan, Warsaw-Modlin and Wroclaw. By Friday, the discount airline will inaugurate flights from Lviv to five EU cities: Krakow, London-Stansted, Memmingen (120 km from Munich), Warsaw-Modlin, and Weeze (83 km from Dusseldorf).

            Planning on expanding in 2019, Ryanair officials met this year with officials of Kherson, Kharkiv and Odesa airports. The Dublin-based airline carries more international passengers than any other airline in the world. This market power is expected to open Ukraine to European tourism.”