Monitoring of Xenophobia and Extremism in Ukraine September 2015 Content Introduction Prognosis Statements of officials Actions of Ukrainian Authorities Terrorism / Separatism Pilot Savchenko National Minorities Ukraine Worldwide Introduction Annexed the Crimea, Russia continued anti-Ukrainian aggression on the territory of Donbas. Artificial Donetsk and Lugansk "People's Republic" became the centers of the Association of Russian mercenaries and professional fighters sabotage groups on the basis of people from the Caucasus and the local pro-Russian activists. Receiving from Russia funding and weapons, including heavy armor, Grad MLRS, terrorist regularly shelled not only the camps and checkpoints ATO forces, but also residential houses, resulting in widespread killing civilians. Reached in Minsk on the eve of the tripartite contact group agreement on the withdrawal of weapons caliber less than 100 mm in the first place will be realized in the Luhansk region. Withdrawal will be carried out at 15 km from the line of contact. There will be discharged tanks, guns caliber 100 mm and mortars of a caliber up to 120 mm. Challenge will take place in two stages. Russia is not ready to agree on a coherent reintegration of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Ukrainian state. At least until then, while in Kiev Donbass does not recognize the leadership of the republics, and will not negotiate with them the laws on the status of the LPR and the DPR. Most likely, low-intensity conflict will continue. In the Donbas, most likely, it will take the situation of "neither war nor peace" as long as one of the parties does not upset the delicate balance. President Barack Obama has ordered the State Department to provide Ukraine $ 20 million in military aid. The Ukrainian delegation left the hall of the UN General Assembly during a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin. So that representatives of the Ukrainian side expressed their disagreement and protest policies pursued by Moscow. State Aviation Administration of Ukraine informed the Russian airlines on sanctions imposed against them. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed the Transport Ministry to consider retaliatory sanctions against Ukrainian airlines. Organization "Odessa underground" has claimed responsibility for the explosion at the building of the Odessa of the SBU. Prognosis Putin‘s deceptive pause: What are Russia‘s next steps in Ukraine, 02.09.2015 A deceptive late-summer pause has settled over the Ukraine crisis. At least, in the coverage of it. For many weeks now, the war in the Donbas has slipped off the front page. Although leaders such as Germany‘s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukraine‘s President Petro Poroshenko still search for an acceptable formula to end the war, it has continued in the southeast corner of Ukraine, with casualties mounting. Who fired first is no longer a relevant question. The point is that the war stumbles along with no end in sight. The twin rebel ―republics‖ of Donetsk and Luhansk have slowly frozen into a Russian stronghold, effectively detached from the rest of Ukraine. They are always available to be manipulated as a pro-Russian weapon in the East-West battle for Ukraine‘s future. http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2015/09/01-russia-ukraine-next-steps-kalb http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op-ed/marvin-kalb-putins-deceptive-pause-in-ukraine-396981.html Poll in DPR: Less than third of residents support separatists, 12.09.2015 According to the survey, only 29% supports the DPR. Earlier, the figure was even lower - 22%. The vast minority of citizens agreed to consider themselves patriots of Russia. These are 11% in the town of Ilovaisk and 12% in the town of Debaltseve. In general, only 10% of citizens in the DPR consider themselves patriots of Russia. Most people consider themselves patriots of Donbas. From 34% to 48% gave a positive answer to this question in different towns of the DPR. The findings were published on the website of Donetsk news agency. A total of 6,500 people aged from 18 were questioned in 19 militant-controlled towns of Donetsk region. http://www.unian.info/society/1121710-poll-in-dpr-less-than-third-of-residents-support-separatists.html Russia‘s Already Lost Its Own Information War, 15.09.2015 Despite the fact that Russian propaganda often finds support in European countries, it can hardly be called a success. The polls suggest that more people have adopted a critical attitude towards Russia. In Germany, over 70% are very critical of Russia's current policy, which was not the case some two-three years ago, Niehus noted. In other countries the situation is similar, she said. According to Niehus, more and more people become aware that Russia is guided solely by its own rhetoric designed to confuse people, preventing them from developing any kind of coherent position. http://www.unian.info/world/1124550-russias-already-lost-its-own-information-war-nato-says.html http://readrussia.com/2015/08/10/mission-failed-russias-already-lost-its-own-information-war/ More than half of Ukrainians believe political parties represent business interests, 16.09.2015 Respondents were asked, if Ukraine had a party which they could describe as the one reflecting their interests. "As many as 48.3% of those polled believe there are no such parties while 33.8% gave a positive answer and 17.9% were undecided or had no answer". 57.4% said they had not heard anything about the activity of local cells of any parties in their regions. http://tass.ru/en/world/821696 Most Russians Oppose Sending Troops To Syria: Poll, 30.09.2015 More than two-thirds of Russians oppose sending troops to Syria to prop up President Bashar al-Assad's government, while a majority approve of Moscow's use of diplomatic and political channels to help its embattled ally in the Middle East, according to a respected independent pollster. At a time when the Kremlin has been ramping up its military presence in Syria, its largest deployment outside the former Soviet Union in decades, the poll by the Levada Center found that only 14 percent of Russians believe Russia should provide "direct military support" for the Syrian government by sending in troops. The poll results were published on Moscow-based Levada's website on September 28, the same day that President Vladimir Putin said in New York that sending ground troops into combat in Syria was "out of the question." http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-poll-finds-russians-against-troops-to-syria/27277333.html Statements of officials Turchynov: Ukraine only to win war when last invader expelled, 01.09.2015 "For a long period of time, the puppets of the Kremlin, who reigned in Ukraine, were doing everything to destroy our army, weaken our security forces and bankrupt our defense industry. Taking advantage of the fact that Ukraine was in a grave condition, they hit us in the back, occupying Crimea and starting a war in Donbas. But in a very short period of time, Ukraine was able to restore its army, build up the national guard, strengthen its border guard service and give a fitting rebuff to the enemy," Alexander Turchynov said. However, Turchynov said that the Ukrainians "had stopped their movement to the west." http://www.unian.info/politics/1117427-turchynov-ukraine-only-to-win-war-when-last-invader-expelled.html Ukraine PM calls Ukraine's NATO non-aligned status a crime, 01.09.2015 "A geostrategic mistake, I would even call it a crime - was the adoption of the so-called non- aligned status of Ukraine by parliament in 2010. Uncertain status and the lack of specific protection system resulted in Russia violating all international treaties and the UN Charter and went ahead with military intervention against Ukraine," Yatsenyuk said. http://uatoday.tv/politics/ukraine-pm-calls-ukraine-s-nato-non-aligned-status-a-crime-485611.html EU to decide on extending sanctions against Russian companies by Sep15, 01.09.2015 The European Union will decide until September 15 on the extension of sanctions against 150 individuals and 37 companies of Russia, as well as LPR and DPR terrorist organizations, Brussels reporter from Radio Free Europe Rikard Jozwiak wrote. "EU visa ban and asset freeze for 150 people and 37 entities in Russia and separatists in Ukraine and Crimea likely to be rolled-over before September 15," he tweeted. http://www.unian.info/politics/1117529-journalist-eu-to-decide-on-extending-sanctions-against-russian-companies-by-sep15.html http://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-set-to-roll-over-sanctions-on-russian-and-ukraine-rebel-individuals-and-firms-1441125339 Russia expels Ukrainian diplomat in St. Petersburg, 01.09.2015 Russia expelled Ukrainian diplomat Ihor Fedikevych, who worked for the Consulate in St. Petersburg in a response to a similar move made by Ukrainian authorities in July. "You remember that our diplomat was expelled from Odessa. We are taking symmetrical measures," a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/09/01/Russia-expels-Ukrainian-diplomat-in-St-Petersburg/7481441122268/ http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150901/1026443075.html EU says Ukraine ready to pay high price for peace, 01.09.2015 Such remarks Tusk made after a meeting with President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović during his visit to the country. Tusk said they also discussed Russia and the crisis in Ukraine. "We are rapidly approaching the deadline for the complete implementation of the Minsk agreements. It is critical that everyone makes every effort to ensure that this deadline is respected," Tusk said. The President of the European Council also expressed his concern about recent violence in Kyiv.