11/24/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - Turkish Air Forces shot down a Russian bomber

Turkish Air Forces shot down a Russian bomber

11.24.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• Turkish Air Forces shot down a Russian bomber.
• Ukraine is preparing to resume power supplies to Crimea.
• An ill-famed MIA official was appointed First Deputy Head of the National Police.

Key Events in Ukraine

• The Parliament adopted the law on pensions to the families of the activists killed during the massacre on Maidan. Reducing some programs of the Ministry of Defense allowed to allocate additional funds for payments to the anti-terrorist operation fighters.
• The Parliament adopted the law to reduce to 50% the quorum of the general shareholders meeting of companies where over 50% of the shares is owned by the state. This will prevent the blocking of the meeting resolutions by minority shareholders due to lack of quorum.
• A law on public-private partnerships eliminating regulatory barriers to the implementation of joint programs and the purchase of goods and services was adopted.
• The Parliament resolved that public authorities and local self-government cannot act as founders and co-founders of print media.
• Parlament Speaker Groisman announced that on Thursday the Parliament would consider a package of laws on decentralization.
• Some deputies from Petro Poroshenko Bloc established a parliamentary group, whose representatives expressed disagreement with the majority of the faction, which, they claim, came to the Parliament for personal gain.
• The Committee of Voters of Ukraine believes the elections in Krivyi Rih were rigged, but the fact of falsification has to be proved in court.
• The Congress of Judges elected all 33 members of the Council.
• Finance Minister Yaresko said that the draft Tax Code and Budget for 2016 have been agreed in principle with the IMF.
• The National Bank sold at an auction more than $10 million that partially decreased the demand for foreign currency in the interbank market: 23.95 ₴/$ (-0.11 UAH), 25.51 ₴/€ (-0.07 UAH) 3.65 ₴/10 ₽ (-0.02 UAH).

Ukraine at War

• The day was hard In the combat zone in Donbas. Russian troops and militants fired at the positions of the Ukrainian army using heavy mortars, conduct offensive reconnaissance along the entire contact line using armored vehicles and anti-aircraft installations.
• During a video conference of the Minsk Contact Group dedicated to resolving the conflict in Donbas, the parties stated a sharp increase in the number of ceasefire violations. The Ukrainian side confirmed the full withdrawal of its weapons of less than 100 mm  caliber, and insists on the consolidation of the OSCE mission technical base necessary to monitor the occupied territories and to release hostages according to the "all for all" formula by the end of the year.
• One of the blown-up electricity transmission lines has been restored. Interenergo management said it was ready to resume electricity supplies to Crimea on Wednesday.
• NSDC reported on the accumulation of the Russian striking force on the administrative border with Crimea.

Ukraine and the World

• Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber that entered the country's airspace. Syrian rebels shot down a rescue helicopter sent to evacuate the pilots of Su-24. Russian President Putin called Turkey’s actions a "stab in the back". Russian General Staff claims that the plane was shot down over the territory of Syria. NATO chief Stoltenberg expressed his support for Turkey's actions. Chairman of the European Council Tusk called on the parties to keep calm. Presidents of the United States and France urged Russia to avoid an escalation of the military conflict and to find a diplomatic solution to the incident.
• Russia's Supreme Court upheld the verdict against Ukrainian citizens, residents of Crimea Sentsov and Kolchenko accused of terrorism. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry demanded the immediate release of the Ukrainian citizens.

The Trends

• According to some experts, the conflict in the skies over Turkey can lead to a full-scale multilateral conflict. The Ukrainian government has not yet used the possibility of exercising pressure on the occupants while Russia is mired in the Syrian conflict.
• The appointment to the post of the First Deputy Head of the National Police of one of the closest associates of the former Interior Minister of the Yanukovych regime Paskal is believed by the civil society to be an insult to the memory of Maidan activists. Civic activists stated that when hiring the new police personnel, the Interior Ministry failed to check their loyalty and that confidence in the new structure has been undermined.