08/29/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - The local elections campaign will begin on September 5th

The local elections campaign will begin on September 5th

08.29.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine News Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• The local elections campaign will begin on September 5th.
• The leader of the "Samopomich" party Sadovoy stated about the facts of bribing the MPs during the voting for the the bill to amend the Constitution.

Key Events in Ukraine

• Leader of "Samopomich Association", Lviv Mayor Sadovoy said that he is aware of the bribery of the party members during the voting in the Parliament on the draft amendments to the Constitution, proposed by President Poroshenko. Regarding this issue, he was called in for the questioning to the General Prosecutor’s Office. One of the Parliamentary group members, Ptashnik, after the meeting with the President stated that she had no knowledge of the facts of bribery. Head of the Verkhovna Rada Groisman published on the official Parliament website a statement about bribery, signed by the Samopomich deputies.
• The Central Election Commission announced that on 5 September the electoral process for the local authorities election will start in Ukraine, apart from the territories occupied by Russia and a number of settlements near the frontline in the Donbass, the list of which was presented by the Heads of Donetsk and Lugansk military-civilian administrations. President Poroshenko insists that the elections should necessarily take place in Mariupol, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.

Ukraine at War

• During the fighting in the Donbass, according to the official reports, two soldiers were killed  and three soldiers were injured . Fighting continues near Donetsk, the militants are shelling the villages around the city and the position of the Ukrainian army.

Ukraine and the World

• German Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande during the telephone conversations with Russian President Putin said that the conducting of "elections" in the Donbass "republics" would violate the Minsk Agreement. Putin insists that Ukraine should conduct a direct dialogue with the militants of the Donbass and lift the financial and economic blockade of the region. He accused Ukraine of shellings of the settlements in the occupied territories and building up the military presence of Ukrainian troops along the demarcation line.
• The US Department of State expressed the support to the reform of the Ukrainian police.
• According to United States Secretary of Defense Carter, Russia's aggressive actions and the emergence of the "Islamic state" are the greatest threats to the US security. He promised to apply the suppression measures against Putin, in the case of the escalation of the situation.