Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said late on Dec. 2 she would step up more than 200 criminal cases against “the owner of several well-known television channels, coal companies, and energy companies.” Although Venediktova did not refer to him by name, this appeared to be a veiled reference to oligarch Rinat
Ukraine’s largest energy company DTEK may have hidden the real scale of an accident that took place at one of their coal-fired thermal power plants in early November, according to a Dec. 2 report by Schemes, the investigative unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. According to the report,
The Group of Seven (G7) most industrialized nations on Dec. 2 urged Ukraine not to delay the selection of the chief anti-corruption prosecutor. The joint statement followed months of unexplained delays in convening the panel that will choose the prosecutor. Anti-corruption watchdogs have blamed disruptions from the President’s Office
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned his Russian counterpart that Russia will pay "severe costs" if it invades Ukraine. Blinken met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Dec. 2 in Stockholm to discuss Russia’s large-scale military buildup on Ukraine’s border that multiple intelligence agencies have
The storm is thickening — the Kremlin keeps advancing new threats of a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in the near future. According to numerous reports from the intelligence community and media, Russia has currently concentrated between 94,000 and 100,000 combat-ready troops in close proximity to the Ukrainian border. Russia
On the morning of Dec. 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his annual speech to Parliament. Here are the key points from his address: Dialogue with Russia Zelensky’s headline-grabbing statement was that Ukraine “cannot end the war (in the Donbas) without direct dialogue with Russia.” The president said that Ukraine’
Several thousand protesters gathered in central Kyiv on the evening of Dec. 1 to demand President Volodymyr Zelensky’s resignation over what they see as his concessions to the Kremlin. The protesters zeroed in on Zelensky’s statement earlier the same day that he’s not afraid of direct negotiations
Why is the reform needed? Ukraine’s judiciary remains corrupt, dysfunctional and politicized. Its governing bodies — the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission — are discredited because they have protected tainted judges. The previous High Qualification Commission was disbanded in 2019 by a law introduced by President Volodymyr
What is happening in Georgia? Ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a Ukrainian citizen, returned to Georgia on Oct. 1. He was arrested upon arrival and jailed on what he says are trumped-up charges. He has been on a hunger strike since his arrest. On Nov. 18, he was transferred to an
Russia has been massing troops on Ukraine’s border, with NATO countries warning that the threat of a larger Russian invasion is very real. Here’s what you need to know. How many Russian troops are on the border? Ukraine’s Defense Ministry estimates that there are about 90,000
The statement came after Russia’s Foreign Ministry published its confidential diplomatic correspondence with France and Germany about the war in eastern Ukraine on Nov. 17. Kuleba said that the move undermined the remnants of trust in Russia, which will make the Donbas peace talks even more complicated. By publishing
If elections were held soon, President Volodymyr Zelensky would have the support of 23.1% of decided voters, while ex-President and European Solidarity party leader Petro Poroshenko would trail with 13.3%, according to a new poll from Rating Group. In the first round of the 2019 election, Zelensky and
What is happening in Belarus? Since July, Belarusian authorities have allowed thousands of refugees from the Middle East to come to Belarus and cross the country’s borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Many of them have tried to break through using force — 11 people have been killed as a
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