Новости за 31.08.2015

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has described as a "stab in the back" a violent nationalist demonstration against legislation that grants more autonomy to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Editor's Note: The following is the English-language translation of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's speech to the nation on Aug. 31.

On Aug. 9, 2015, a senior Russian general declared that if the Ukrainian military crosses Russia’s red line and attempts to recapture the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, Russia would respond with overwhelming force. This statement reaffirms the Kremlin’s official line that Russia needs to hold onto territory it has virtually annexed in Donbas to ensure the viability of its puppet republics, Donetsk and Luhansk. But is it true?

On Aug. 9, 2015, a senior Russian general declared that if the Ukrainian military crosses Russia’s red line and attempts to recapture the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, Russia would respond with overwhelming force. This statement reaffirms the Kremlin’s official line that Russia needs to hold onto territory it has virtually annexed in Donbas to ensure the viability of its puppet republics, Donetsk and Luhansk. But is it true?

Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Groysman said he is convinced that the Verkhovna Rada will finally back the changes to the country's Constitution dealing with decentralization before the end of this year.

A police officer was killed during a protest in Kiev on Monday. It was the first such fatality since Ukraine's "Revolution of Dignity" last year. Radical nationalists, some with weapons, gathered to protest a constitutional amendment proposed by President Petro Poroshenko that would make it possible to reintegrate separatist areas into Ukraine on special terms favorable to Russia.

The Donbas militants on Monday observed the ceasefire almost in full, the press center for the military operation has said.

Ukrainian Interior Minster Arseniy Avakov is expecting more arrests to be made among those who took part in the events outside the Vekhovna Rada building on Aug. 31.

Forty-four people have turned to paramedic brigades for medical assistance after clashes outside the Verkhovna Rada, 21 of them with gunshot wounds, the Ukrainian Health Ministry has said.

If Russia does not fulfill its obligations undertaken under Minsk agreements, it will face both personal and sector sanctions imposed on people involved into occupation of Crimea and Donbas, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

It was always hard to feel sympathy for the Ukrainian riot police who, in the winter of 2013-2014, stood in thick black ranks to protect the corrupt regime of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

The deficit of Ukraine's national budget in July fell to UAH 200 million from UAH 7.7 billion in the previous month, which was the result of both increased revenues and reduced expenses in absolute terms, according to a macroeconomic overview the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has posted on its website.

A criminal investigation was launched over the events near the Verkhovna Rada, the press service of the Kyiv prosecutor's office said.

Ukrainian and French journalists injured near the Verkhovna Rada sustained different injuries, the public relations department of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's main department in Kyiv said.

One National Guard serviceman was killed and several police officers badly wounded on Aug. 31 when an explosive device was thrown at them from among a crowd of far-right Svoboda Party and Right Sector organization protesters outside parliament.

Whether the presidential bill proposing power-decentralization changes to the Constitution passes second reading in Verkhovna Rada will depend on how the situation evolves in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is convinced that the current parliamentary coalition will continue its work.

The organizers of the clashes that occurred outside the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada on Aug. 31, including politicians, must be held strictly to account, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has accused the All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" and its leader Oleh Tiahnybok of clashes outside the parliament building on Aug. 31.

Ukrainian Premier Arseniy Yatseniuk has said that the person responsible for throwing a grenade near the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Monday must be sentenced to life imprisonment.

One police officer has been killed and more than 100 others injured amid clashes with protesters in Kyiv. The unrest comes after lawmakers voted on a constitutional amendment to help end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Red tape is stifling Ukraine’s war effort, they say, as military commanders allegedly delay and even ban soldiers from responding to artillery attacks from pro-Russian rebels.

Ukraine is on its way to having a new "party of power." Last Friday saw the last hurrah of the independent political career of the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko. The UDAR party, which he led, merged with the political forces of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to form a new party named UDAR-Solidarity.

The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, whose former head Ihor Shevchenko was dismissed on July 2, has fulfilled a mere 4 percent (three out of 75) of the tasks mandated under the government program, meaning the ministry is the worst in terms of implementation.

The situation in Donbas shows a tendency towards normalization, Ukrainian Presidential Administration Spokesman for the Army Operation Andriy Lysenko has said.