Technovation, global IT entrepreneurship contest among schoolgirls, launched in Ukraine

Maidan Community Sector, Lviv: Dear friends!

Malaysia Airlines FLIGHT MH17 – SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH

January 12 – No Ukrainian military were killed in the ATO area in the last 24 hours, – said NSDC spokesman Andriy Lysenko. The terrorists, however, have carried out 63 attacks on Ukrainian military and civilian sites.

January 12 – Interpol has announced that former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, and several other former Ukrainian officials are now wanted persons. Earlier on, Edward Stavytskyy, Serhiy Kurchenko, Serhiy Arbuzov, Olexandr Klymenko, Andriy Ignatov, Olexandr Dynnyk have also been announces as wanted persons. Instead, Russia is ignoring all requests by Ukraine regarding the search for these criminals.

January 12 – US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt believes that Russian terrorists are trying to move the dividing line between Ukrainian army and terrorists, which was agreed upon in Minsk.

January 12 – Special agents of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) have detained a young girl who worked as a sniper and is suspected to have killed at least 10 Ukrainian military. Within social networks she is known as Anastasia Voroshylova, aka "Ekstezi". Some of the networks provide a different name for this girl. Apparently she received photos of Ukrainian officers whom she was supposed to kill from her superiors. She confessed that she and other girls from her unit were trained in Krasnodar and recruited by Russian Federal Security Service. Angelina Sambur, another girl from Anastasia's unit who is also a fellow student, confessed via social networks that she is also a sniper.

January 12 – Ukraine is ready to grant Donbas a status of special economic zone under a special relations format with the EU and Russia, – said President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in an interview France 24. In order to be able to do this, legitimate elections according to Ukrainian laws should take place and local governments should be elected.

January 12 – President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed an Order "Strategy of Constant Development: Ukraine – 2020", which demarcates the basic directions of the development of the country. "Strategy – 2020" includes in it 62 reforms. Priority is given to 8 reforms and 2 programs. 25 key indicators of the success of the development of the country are specified. Primary specified reforms are those of the system of national security and defense, the renewal of government and an anti-corruption reform, judicial and human rights reforms, the decentralization and reform of state management, deregulation and development of entrepeneurship, reform of health care and tax reform. Among the priorities is also the realization of two programs – energy independence and the popularization of Ukraine in the world through advocating the interests of the nation on the world-wide informational network.

Official Interpol page:

YANUKOVYCH, VIKTOR WANTED BY THE JUDICIAL AUTHORITIES OF UKRAINE FOR PROSECUTION / TO SERVE A SENTENCE

Timothy Ash: New round of Ukraine-Russia peace talks under way

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March 11 – Russia continues to arm and train separatists in eastern Ukraine, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (reports Reuters), while answering questions about the information on Russian tanks arriving in Ukraine over the last few days.

March 11 – Leonid Kuzmin, the organizer of events commemorating the birthday of Taras Shevchenko in Simferopol on March 9, has been threatened with being fired if he doesn't resign "voluntarily". For those of you who are English-speaking and French-speaking – it's like firing someone for being Shakespeare's admirer.

March 11 – Security Service of Ukraine has said that Russian Major General Alexei Zavizion (aka Alagir) is the head of operations of the militants in Donbas. Although there are no Russian troops in Donbas, according to Putin.

March 11 – The US has introduced new sanctions against former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, his Deputy Serhiy Arbuzov, former minister Raisa Bogatyryova, some pro-Russian militants and their Russian supporters, – according to the website of the US Treasury.

March 11 – The threat to Russian oil industry as a result of sanctions and their implications for companies to attract funds are more serious than the risks associated with falling oil prices, – states the review by international rating agency Fitch Ratings "Russian Oil and Gas Under Sanctions: Technology, Funding More of a Threat Than Weak Oil".

March 11 – The US has decided to supply Ukraine with remotely piloted aircraft and armoured military vehicles Humvee, – informed US Vice President Joe Biden in his telephone conversation with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

March 11 – Russian soldiers are participating in the war in Eastern Ukraine beginning with July 14, 2014.

This is stated in the report of the British Kingdom United Institute of Defense Research (https://www.rusi.org/)

According to the document, on that day six reconnaissance detachments, namely: 2nd Brigade of special forces, 10th Brigade of special forces, a group of the 45th Division of Guards special forces of the air assault troops, 173rd Separate Division of Guards Reconnaissance Company, the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 9th Infantry Brigade, the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 18th Infantry Brigade.

Since August 11th, according to the data of the Institute, in the war in Ukraine, there were already ten tactical groups which were fully involved: 17th Infantry Brigade; 18th Infantry Brigade; 21st Infantry Brigade; 33rd a (mountain) Infantry Brigade; 247th Guard Division Landing-Storming Regiment; 104th Guard Division Landing-Storming Regiment; 331st Guard Division of the air assault troops; 137th Guard Division of the air assault troops; 31st Guard Division Landing-Storming Regiment; 2nd Brigade of special forces.

The number of pro-Russian fighters, state the analysts, numbers a half of the number of resource of Russian regular army. The main strategic task of the Russian Army units in the the document is named the support of the self-pronounced "republics" in Eastern Ukraine. Also the researchers supposse that that Russia very soon will undertake a new a new attack on Ukrainian positions. The most probable direction is considered Mariupol.

Anders Aslund: What Putin Can Learn from Stalin's Winter War

Leonid Bershidsky: Russia is hacking your social media news feed

Edward Lucas: Answering the critics of a tough Russia policy

Human Rights Abuses in Russia Occupied Crimea [23 pgs]

by Andrii Klymenko, Atlantic Council (Washington, D.C.), Freedom House (Washington, D.C.)

March 2015

Putin and politics of isolation

Russia-Ukraine (in caricatures-photogallery)

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