Politics

“Western people often think that they understand everything about Ukraine… I do not rule out that the main сause of Ukraine’s mistakes and problems is the ‘merit’ of Ukrainians themselves… But we all contributed a little to the mistakes of 2014-19, and I want to talk about that,” – began Waschuk, addressing western donors and top Ukrainian reform makers both from political and NGO spheres. Waschuk’s main point is that Ukraine is a very complicated country. Neither Kyivan elites, nor Moscow enemies or especially remote western friends understand it in full. That is why reform makers did not achieve their desired result, while Putin’s offensive in 2014 failed close to the Ukrainian border, far from the Kremlin-claimed half of Ukraine. Yet since 1990, Ukrainians have already had three revolutions, of which the Revolution of Dignity was the latest. This turbulence means that something is wrong with the self-awareness of the entire country. Waschuk’s top-10 mistakes are an attempt to contribute to this self-awareness. №1. Reform-bolshevism: if it is not 105% successful, then it failed...

TIU Canada, a leading solar energy producer in Ukraine, has sued the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NFZ) for illegally disconnecting its 10.5 MW solar station from the electricity grid. Despite Ukrainian energy laws that prevent electricity producers from being discon- nected from the energy grid without their permission, the NFZ illegally cut TIU Canada’s connection on March 1, 2020. TIU Canada is seeking an immediate reconnection to the electricity grid and plans to hold the NFZ and its shareholders fully accountable under the laws of both Ukraine and Canada. The main shareholders of the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant are Igor Kolomoyskyi, Gennadiy Bogolyubov, and Viktor Pinchuk. The Nikopol solar station owned by TIU Canada is on land leased long term from the city of Nikopol, however, entry to the facility is through a gate controlled by the NFZ...

Volodymyr Gorbulin, former secretary of Ukraine’s RNBO, has written a book How to Defeat Russia in a Future War, which may prove to have real consequences for his country. He has authored the following short summary. First step. The realization by the military-political leadership of the state of the fact that contemporary war is different in essence - very unlike the one for which the General Staff is preparing . In September 2019, after the use of only a dozen drones filled with explosives led to the halving of Saudi Arabia's daily oil production, and a massive attack by Turkish attack drones in Syria at the end of February 2020 led to the destruction of the Syrian air defense, it became clear that the world had just witnessed a new technological leap forward. The well-known innovator Musk immediately stated that in the wars of the future, fighters, even the modern American F-35s, have no chance to resist combat drones equipped with an artificial intelligence system...

The second hearing of Court of Appeals on the case of Ukrainian soldier Vitaliy Markiv took place in Milan, Italy, on October 1. Vitaliy has been in prison for over three years on charges of complicity in the killing of Italian journalist Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter and human rights activist Andrei Mironov near then-occupied Sloviansk. The hearing was mostly technical, and more time was spent in the deliberation room than in the courtroom. It was decided to grant the prosecutor’s request, namely to review the translation of a recording of Vitaliy Markiv’s conversation with a cellmate on July 1, 2017 Prosecutor Nunzia Chiaravolo requested that the first translation of the audiotape, where Markov allegedly said: “We killed (took down) an Italian reporter”, be added as admissible evidence. For the prosecution, these words constitute a confession. But, there is a second version of the translation, made by the court translator at the request of the defence team, and this phrase is missing...

Disinformation works, and pro-Kremlin disinformation is often able to influence people’s opinions. This is the conclusion drawn from recent research on “online astroturfing”. The researchers investigated the psychology behind effective mitigation strategies and the effectiveness of three “vaccines” against online disinformation. The research by Thomas Zerback (University of Zurich) and Florian Töpfl (Free University of Berlin), shows that forged comments can change the political opinions of audiences online. Furthermore, it seems inoculation against manipulated messages only works when it debunks the exact fake argument. Sadly, the research also shows the effect only works for a short period and is then forgotten...

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada will commit over $4.3 million to strengthen defence and broader security sector reforms in Ukraine as part of Canada’s whole-of-government support to the country. The contribution complements Operation UNIFIER, Canada’s military training and capacity-building mission in Ukraine, and will be implemented in partnership with the Parliamentary Centre and Alinea International. These funds will support projects that integrate technical expertise, gender-based analysis and results-based management tools to enhance security sector institutions. Canada’s partnership with Alinea International will advance governance and democratic accountability of the security sector by helping reform initiatives undertaken within security sector institutions in Ukraine...

On 8 October, one day after signing a Memorandum to modernize the Ukrainian Navy, Ukraine and the United Kingdom signed an agreement on political cooperation, free trade, and strategic partnership, which will replace the Association Agreement on trade with Britain after Brexit. The signing, which took place during Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy’s visit to London, was announced by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on twitter: “Historic moment: the Agreement is signed. As Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, it means more trade, more security, more cooperation between Ukraine & UK. Two flanks of Europe – Western & Eastern – have become even closer,” the minister wrote on twitter. The voluminous document was signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on behalf of Ukraine and Prime Minister Borys Johnson on behalf of the UK...

The sides have discussed in detail the process of implementing the agreements of the Normandy Four summit held in December 2019. The Office of the President of Ukraine has revealed details of the meeting of political advisors to the Normandy Four leaders held on Friday, September 11. Details of Friday meeting The sides have discussed in detail the process of implementing the agreements of the Normandy Four summit held in December 2019, as well as the details of negotiations within the Minsk negotiating group, as reported on the presidential website. "The participants have backed Ukraine's call on the need to take comprehensive measures to extend a sustainable ceasefire [in Donbas]," reads the report. Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak said...

The poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appears to have finally turned most Europeans against Vladimir Putin and his pet project, the Russia-German Nord Stream 2 pipeline. As a comatose Navalny receives medical treatment in Germany, mounting numbers of European politicians are now calling for additional sanctions against the Kremlin. For the first time, this includes a growing chorus of German political and media leaders who are demanding the cancellation of Putin’s USD 9.5 billion energy project. These calls to take action in response to the Navalny poisoning come at a time when there is also growing European unease over Russia’s escalating intervention in neighboring Belarus. So far, Putin has provided diplomatic and economic support to fellow dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka. He has also sent Kremlin media...

A special status should be granted to the entire territory of Donbas, not just the temporarily occupied parts as Russia has been demanding, Fokin suggests. First prime minister of Ukraine Vitold Fokin, who has recently been appointed deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation at the Donbas settlement talks within the Trilateral Contact Group, believes "general pardon" is required today as a prerequisite to end the war. "Another important question is about pardon. On both sides, many crimes have been committed that should ultimately be investigated, and let the perpetrators be prosecuted. But today, in order to end the war and save the lives of soldiers and commanders, my position is to declare general pardon, hold elections, resolve the issue of the special status of certain regions, and best of all, the entire Donbas," he told Strana...