04/21/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - The Verkhovna Rada recognized Russia as an aggressor

Russian aggression in Ukraine started at February 20, 2014

04/21/2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine News Agency

Topics from the Media and Social Networks

• The Verkhovna Rada recognized Russia as an aggressor.
• Search at the Head’s of the Ministry of Justice Department of lustration.
• The leader of the "Donetsk republic" militants Zaharchenko called the "republics of Ukraine" to join DNR.
• Roshen corporation owned by the President Poroshenko finally liquidated Mariupol confectionary.
• Seven Verhovna Rada deputies might lose their parliamentary immunity.
• Dismissed head of the tax service  could be appointed a head of the State Property Fund.

Key Events of Ukraine

• The Verkhovna Rada demanded from Russia the immediate withdrawal of its armed forces from Ukraine, the termination of terrorist organizations support in the east of the country, the release of all illegally detained prisoners of war and the return of the annexed Crimea. In its statement the Parliament named the start date of aggression - February 20, 2014.
• Deputies postponed until July 15 the enactment of the law on the prosecutor's office, which was to come into force on April 25, claiming that the Prosecutor's office did not have time to prepare for that. Prosecutor's office is allowed to nominate its representatives to the High Council of Justice.
• Ministry of Energy considers 11 out of 35 mines located on the territory controlled by Ukraine prospectless, three mines will be closed in the near future.
• Hryvnia exchange rate against the major currencies has not changed: 22.28 UAH/USD (+0.03 UAH), 23.84 UAH/EUR (-0,02 UAH), 4.13 UAH/10 RUR (-0,19 UAH).

Ukraine at War

• OSCE observers recorded the increased hostilities with the use of heavy weapons in the surroundings of the Donetsk airport and Shyrokine.
  Militant groups and contractors from Russia, whose number rises up to 50 thousands,  gradually become the real army, they also improve their communication and logistics. The transfer of equipment, ammunition and fuel from the Russian Federation continues.
  Militants are shelling the positions of the Ukrainian army with various types of artillery and mortars, conduct fighting reconnaissance in different directions.
• Militants are getting ready for the “victory parade" sheduled in Donetsk for the May 9th and conduct trainings using heavy equipment.
• The head of the terrorist "Donetsk Republic" declared his readiness to accept joining  "republics" of Ukraine - Odessa, Kharkov, Zaporozhye and others to the DPR.

Ukraine and the World

• The EU has given to Ukraine 250 million euros as a last part of the first macro-financial assistance program, adopted in 2014.
• US Congress members from the both major parties have sent to President Obama request about the beginning of deliveries of defensive weapons  to Ukraine .
• UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasised that the decision to send peacekeepers to the Donbass can only be made by the Security Council, where Russia has the rght of veto.
• The delegations of Ukraine, the EU and Russia discussed the creation of a comprehensive free trade area, which will be implemented after the final entry into force of the economic part of the Association Agreement. The negotiations will continue at the political level.
• The murderer who killed the Ukrainian officer during the seizure of Crimea by the Russian troops in February 2014 was sentenced only to two years in prison. At the same time, the Ukrainian citizen against whom the false charges "of the organization of a terrorist group" were brought up along with the charges against the film director Sentsov, was sentenced to 7 years in prison.

The Trends

• The deputies of the Verkhovna Rada failed the voting for the law allowing citizens to initiate anti-corruption criminal proceedings and introducing the institution of public prosecution, thus limiting the participation of the civil society in the investigation of corruption.
• If to exclude the annexed Crimea and the occupied Donbass from the statistics, the actual reduction of the state officers number is only 0.4%, not 12% as reported the Cabinet.