The Ukrainian Weekly, 2017
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ХРИСТОС НАРОДИВСЯ! CHRIST IS BORN! THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profitW associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXV No. 52-53 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24-31, 2017 $2.00 U.S. special envoy says 2017 was deadliest year in Ukraine conflict Anti-government protests end in violence and warns of spiking violence Donbas war RFE/RL heats up The U.S. special envoy for the Ukraine con- flict has said 2017 was the deadliest year in the by Mark Raczkiewycz region since the outbreak of violence three KYIV – Tensions between Ukrainian years ago, and warned that hostilities are again politician Mikheil Saakashvili and erst- ratcheting up. while ally Ukrainian President Petro Kurt Volker’s comments on December 19 Poroshenko were further strained after came as international monitors reported the former Georgian leader called on the intense shelling overnight near the town of president to resign in an open letter he Novoluhanske, part of the eastern Ukrainian published on his Facebook page on region known as the Donbas. December 19. United Nations officials reported eight civil- “Admit to yourself and the nation that ians injured and dozens of homes damaged, you and your associates aren’t capable with winter temperatures complicating mat- of and don’t wish to change Ukraine for ters. the better,” he wrote his former universi- “A lot of people think that this has somehow ty friend. “Your voluntary resignation is Defense Ministry of Ukraine turned into a sleepy, frozen conflict and it’s sta- one of the last chances to quell the polit- Russian shelling from occupied Horlivka damaged a kindergarten in ble and now we have... a ceasefire. It’s a problem ical crisis, which only can deepen.” Novoluhanske in Donetsk Oblast on December 18, a day before St. Nicholas Day. but it’s not a crisis,” Ambassador Volker said in a It was in retaliation for the publica- speech at the Atlantic Council, a Washington tion by the president’s office of a concil- dent also called allegations that he coop- challenged the ruling in the Kyiv think tank. iatory private note from Mr. Saakashvili erates with Russia’s spy agency, the Appellate Court four days later. “That’s completely wrong. It is a crisis. This to the president on December 18. In the Federal Security Service (FSB), “absurd.” The correspondence followed two has been the most violent year, 2017, and letter Mr. Saakashvili admitted to “have That was in reference to audio record- consecutive Sundays of anti-government frankly last night was one of the most violent committed and [continues to] commit ings that the Prosecutor General’s Office protests that Mr. Saakashvili’s Movement nights, certainly since February, and possibly many political mistakes,” while calling released on December 5 as purported of New Forces staged in central Kyiv this year,” he said. for dialogue and “the need to de-escalate evidence that Mr. Saakashvili was receiv- together with opposition lawmakers. Ambassador Volker later posted several mes- and not allow for the situation to desta- ing over $300,000 from Russia-based, Among their demands is quicker prog- bilize.” sages to Twitter, suggesting that just before the exiled Ukrainian businessmen con- ress on stamping out high-level graft, Mr. Poroshenko had appointed his “massive escalation” in ceasefire violations, trolled by the Kremlin to stage rallies. including the establishment of a long- former college chum as governor of Authorities also suspect Mr. promised anti-corruption court. Russia had withdrawn its officers from a coordi- Odesa in May 2015, but the two had a Saakashvili of attempting to overthrow The latest demonstration on December nating body run jointly with Ukraine that is falling out after the latter resigned a year the government, but they lost a court 17 by about 5,000 protesters ended in helping to implement the ceasefire. later, alleging obstruction of his efforts to hearing on December 11 to place him clashes with police who were preventing The Organization for Security and root out graft in the port city. under house arrest after he had been Cooperation’s (OSCE) Special Monitoring The former two-term Georgian presi- released from detention. Prosecutors (Continued on page 25) Mission to Ukraine later confirmed the Russian side’s withdrawal from the Joint Center for Coordination and Control (JCCC). The OSCE’s confirmation came in a statement valid as of December 18 and published on December 19. U.S. approves sale of light weapons to Ukraine Russia’s withdrawal from the body under- mines the OSCE’s operations and is an attempt RFE/RL as approval of “the largest U.S. commer- vide lethal defensive weapons to by the Kremlin to force Kyiv into talks with rep- cial sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine to help the country “protect [its] resentatives of the breakaway regions in east- The U.S. State Department says it has Ukraine.” sovereignty.” He said in testimony before ern Ukraine, according to Vadym Chernysh, approved an export license for Ukraine The State Department’s Ms. Nauert the Senate Armed Services Committee Ukraine’s minister for temporarily occupied to buy certain types of light weapons noted that, “Under the previous two on September 26 that a proposal to pro- territories and internally displaced persons. and small arms from U.S. manufacturers. administrations, the U.S. government has vide lethal aid to Ukraine was awaiting a “The presence of Russian officers in the JCCC Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on approved export licenses to Ukraine, so decision from the White House. guaranteed, among other things, the safety of December 20 that Congress was notified this is nothing new.” According to Reuters, Last month, ABC News reported that the OSCE mission’s staff,” Mr. Chernysh said. of the decision on December 13. State Department records show that senior aides would present U.S. President Ambassador Volker also warned that The license covers weapons in cate- Ukraine has bought small amounts of light Donald Trump with a $47 million plan to Russia-backed forces were close to seizing a gories such as semiautomatic and auto- weapons and small arms for several years, finance and sell high-tech defensive water-treatment plant in the city of Donetsk, matic firearms up to .50 caliber weap- both before and after Russia’s seizure of weapons to Ukraine. ons, combat shotguns, silencers, military Ukraine’s Crimea region in March 2014. and he called for the withdrawal of heavy scopes, flash suppressors and parts. U.S. exporters can apply for direct com- With reporting by The Washington weapons from the area. It does not allow the sale of heavier mercial-sales licenses, which are reviewed Post, Reuters, CNN, ABC and The Hill. The chief monitor for the OSCE mission said weapons, such as Javelin anti-tank mis- by the State Department on a case-by-case Copyright 2017, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted a sharp deterioration in the security situation siles, that Ukraine has urged Washington basis, Ms. Nauert said. She noted that the with the permission of Radio Free had seen ceasefire violations reaching levels to provide in order to strengthen its U.S. government has not directly provid- Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut not recorded since February. capabilities against the Russia-backed ed lethal defensive equipment to Ave. NW, Washington DC 20036; www. Chief monitor Ertugrul Apakan said on separatists it is fighting in the Donetsk Ukraine, but has not ruled out doing so. rferl.org (for the full text of the story see December 19 that the latest escalation showed and Luhansk regions. The top U.S. military commander, https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-us- An article in The Washington Post Gen. Joseph Dunford, said earlier this approves-export-license-small- (Continued on page 19) described the State Department decision year that he recommended the U.S. pro- arms/28930667.html) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24-31, 2017 No. 52-53 ANALYSIS Bellingcat identifies key figure U.N. on rights violations in Crimea Crimea for the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission while it commends The United Nations General Assembly on Ukraine for providing unhindered access to in downing of MH17 December 19 approved a resolution strong- Crimea for journalists and human rights ly condemning human rights violations in international tribunal to prosecute those activists, and for supporting media and non- RFE/RL’s Russian Service Russian-annexed Crimea and referring to deemed responsible. governmental organizations that were Russia as an “occupying power” there. The A respected international investigative Russia further denies any involvement in forced out of Crimea after Russia’s takeover. resolution, put forward by Ukraine and 30 group says it has identified a senior Ukraine’s internal affairs despite compel- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko other countries, was approved by 70 states. Russian general as a figure of interest in the ling evidence that Moscow has provided thanked those who co-authored and voted Twenty-six, including Russia, Belarus, downing of a civilian airliner over eastern military, economic and political support to for the resolution, calling them the “real Kazakhstan and China, voted against. Ukraine in 2014. militants fighting Ukrainian forces in a war friends of Ukrainian Crimea” in a Twitter Seventy-six countries abstained from vot- The Bellingcat investigative group – that has killed more than 10,000 since post. (RFE/RL, with reporting by UNIAN ing. Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the which uses sophisticated digital