Новости за 21.10.2015

To mark Back to the Future day on Oct. 21, the precise date in the second installment of Hollywood's comic science-fiction trilogy when the main characters travel in time to 2015, RFE/RL takes a look at seven aspects of the Soviet era that have reappeared since Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000.

When Ukraine's revolution swept him to power last spring, Arseniy Yatsenyuk vowed to become a "kamikaze politician" pushing unpopular reforms and "waging a war" on graft.

A ceasefire in eastern Ukraine means more work for the volunteer group Black Tulip, which can now collect remains of Ukrainian soldiers killed in action without the risk of being caught in crossfire between rebels and government troops.

The godfather of Russia's military intervention in Syria is Yevgeny Primakov, a former prime minister and intelligence chief and for decades his nation's leading Arabist. A hint of Primakov's influence on Russian President Vladimir Putin came in the unusual eulogy that Putin delivered at his friend’s funeral in Moscow four months ago.

Russian air strikes in Syria are costing Moscow up to $4 million per day, data collated for The Moscow Times by a defense think tank showed.

As a Muscovite, it seemed to me in 2004 that the events unfolding in Ukraine would determine the future of Russia. The more the Kremlin dismissed the chance that Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko could win the elections, the more it seemed he was destined for victory. And finally, despite enormous efforts by President Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin spin doctors, the Ukrainian people had their say. After days of sit-in demonstrations at Maidan, the democratic candidate won on the third round of voting. Читать дальше...

Political parties will spend around Hr 2 billion during the current local election campaign, which is Hr 200 million more than was spent during the parliamentary election in 2014, experts have said.

The OSCE says its drones have spotted attempts by Russian-backed militants to conceal heavy weapons in east Ukraine in the Donetsk region despite their announcements on their readiness to withdraw.

Laywers of imprisoned Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who is on trial in the Russian city of Donetsk (the Rostov region), have asked the court to interrogate Savchenko's sister Vera under emergency circumstances.

Judicial reform in Ukraine should be based on the full reboot of the judiciary, Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said.

MOSCOW - President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called his counterpart, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, to Moscow for an unannounced visit to discuss their joint military campaign and a future political transition in Syria, the Kremlin announced on Wednesday.

ODESA - The number of people who died after the Ivolga boat sank near the village of Zatoka, Odesa region, has risen to 17.

The daily pumping of natural gas to underground storage facilities is 81.6 million cubic meters (mcm), the press service of public joint-stock company Ukrtransgaz has reported, referring to data from the central dispatch department of the gas transport system operator on Oct. 20.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed resolution H.RES.348 "Supporting the right of the people of Ukraine to freely elect their government and determine their future" introduced by Member of Congress for Rhode Island's First Congressional District David Cicilline.

In August and September 2015, the Ukrainian government accomplished two major breakthroughs. It succeeded in negotiating a debt-restructuring deal with creditors, and it made progress toward parliamentary approval of a decentralization package. The first was an unqualified success. The second was a highly controversial event that triggered protests and violence and resulted in several fatalities, reaffirming that constitutional reform will be a difficult challenge for Ukraine. In addition to these major developments... Читать дальше...

The main problem with the West's approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin is that it doesn't seem to know who it's dealing with. In an excellent article in Foreign Policy, Raymond Tanter states the bleatingly obvious - the Russian leader is nothing but a bully and should be treated as such. While the United States and Europe favor a "win-win" approach, Putin prefers the "I win, you lose" model. Any attempt to find common ground with someone who thinks this way is doomed to fail. They tend... Читать дальше...

In the latest article of this series ("Putin's Russia. Kremlin's Goal No. 1") I analysed the theory and practice of Russian foreign policy trying to ground the thesis that Kremlin's main goal is to undermine the EU and NATO, and bring the world back to the times of international power balance.

As much as it may sound paradoxical to a Western reader, public opinion is important in Russia. Or,more to the point, it's the polling industry and the copious amounts of data it collects that are important. The average Russian's responses to all kinds of questions are a staple of that same average Russian’s media diet.

The book is a collection of legal, political and moral arguments proving that the annexation of Crimea was unjust and unfair, said the presenter, a Russian political expert Stanislav Belkovsky, according to UNIAN correspondent in Russia.

Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Hrytsak, reported to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on a "Russian trace" in the terrorist attack outside the headquarters of Odesa regional division of the SBU, and on solving the crime, according to the SBU press center.

No violations of the Minsk agreements were observed overnight, and the arms withdrawal continued in the Mariupol sector, the press center of the Ukrainian anti-terrorist operation in southeastern Ukraine reported on Oct. 21 morning.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov and Interior Minister of Lithuania Saulius Skvernelis at a meeting in Kyiv discussed the prospect of enhancing cooperation between the two countries in the field of security, in particular the reform of law enforcement agencies.

MINSK - The economic subgroup of the Contact Group on Ukraine has reached progress on a number of areas in the effort of rebuilding the infrastructure in Donbas.

Chelsea's Champions League campaign hit more trouble Oct. 20 in a frustrating 0-0 draw against Dynamo Kyiv in Group G.

Russia's military intervention in Syria is serving as a broader announcement of Moscow's renewed determination to hold sway in the Middle East.