Ukraine News Roundup 12-15/16-2019 (Zelensky etc.)

[TomSea]

Zelensky hires U.S. lobbyists to get Trump's favor, - media
After more than two months of anxious waiting, Mr. Zelensky finally appears to have won support from the White House for a candidate to fill Ukraine’s vacant ambassadorship to the United States
22:14, 15 December 2019

Eager to repair their country’s fraught relationship with Washington, allies of President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine have met with lobbyists with close ties to the Trump administration, hopeful of creating new channels of communication, The New York Times reports.

After more than two months of anxious waiting, Mr. Zelensky finally appears to have won support from the White House for a candidate to fill Ukraine’s vacant ambassadorship to the United States.

And Mr. Zelensky, still deeply dependent on American assistance, has been signaling, in hardly subtle fashion, that he and his officials will not assist in the impeachment process, keeping quiet in particular about the fact that his government knew weeks earlier than it has publicly acknowledged that Mr. Trump had frozen nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine.

Read more at: https://112.international/politics/zelensky-hires-us-lobbyists-affiliated-with-manafort-to-get-trumps-favor-media-46572.html

Top Ukrainian official: All we are asking for is fair treatment – CNN
 14:00, 14 December 2019 Politics
A top official from the Zelensky government said Friday that his country is only seeking fair treatment from the United States and stressed the strong relationship between the two countries.

Photo from UNIAN
 Dmytro Kuleba, the deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration -- whose visit to Washington coincided with the House Judiciary Committee's markup and vote on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump -- downplayed the impact that those developments could have on U.S.-Ukraine relations. Instead he highlighted the importance of the alliance.

"All we are asking from our colleagues in the U.S. administration is fair treatment," Kuleba said. "We don't want to be shamed and blamed. We just need a fair, balanced look on what Ukraine has accomplished, where Ukraine stands and where Ukraine is moving," according to CNN.

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/politics/10794242-top-ukrainian-official-all-we-are-asking-for-is-fair-treatment-cnn.html

Ukraine church leader Epifaniy: Zelensky must find "formula or recipe" for ending Donbas war
11:50, 14 December 2019 Ukraine 751 0 Metropolitan Epifaniy spoke about relations with President Vladimir Zelensky.


Metropolitan Epifaniy, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, says he supports President Volodymyr Zelensky, who seeks to bring "fair peace" to the country's east. "We had several meetings. The first one was after the election but before inauguration. He visited me. We had our first, type of familiarizing meeting with him," the top cleric told in an interview with TSN.ua. Epifaniy says the president left a positive impression, adding that Zelensky seemed to have a desire to do something useful for the development of the Ukrainian state as a whole.

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/society/10794203-ukraine-church-leader-epifaniy-zelensky-must-find-formula-or-recipe-for-ending-donbas-war.html

There is an important trial on the car bombing murder of a journalist in Ukraine. This does not directly affect the USA, the impeachment hearings, so each of us can look into the matter more on our own. Here is one article. I don't even know if I get the "Veterans Affairs" here, one or two of the five accused of the murder may be veterans of the war over there.

Ukraine facing reputational risks: Minister for Veterans Affairs on Sheremet murder case
 21:00, 14 December 2019 Ukraine
The Ministry is ready to provide a full range of legal assistance to suspects.


The Minister says the evidence must be convincing for everyone / Photo from UNIAN

 Minister for Veterans Affairs, Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Oksana Koliada has commented on the arrest of suspects in the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet.

 Koliada said she knew the suspects personally, adding that they are highly acclaimed in the veteran and volunteer communities. "No matter the investigation results, the state loses, first of all, in terms of reputation," Koliada wrote on Facebook.

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/society/10794440-ukraine-facing-reputational-risks-minister-for-veterans-affairs-on-sheremet-murder-case.html

One of the accused is a musician and also called an "Ultra-Nationalist", so just adding this in.

Andrii Antonenko of Riffmaster suspected of Sheremet's assassination / Photo fromfacebook.com/andrew.antonenko

He authored an anthem of the Ukrainian Specops Forces.

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/society/10791836-police-detain-suspects-in-sheremet-murder-case-interior-minister.html

So, you know, I hope we help President Zelensky and their government along. They certainly do seem to be trying. An interesting situation.

I think Zelensky is the right man at the right time for Ukraine. To sort of get the people out of the way things have been going over there, though, policy-wise, success may be limited, it's better than what was going on before.

[TomSea]

If we want to see what the issues are in Washington with this impeachment, Ukraine seems to be at the center. I think I will start trying to do these updates should they merit it.

Joint Forces Operation staff published losses of militants in Donbas since beginning of December
Since beginning of this month, loss of militants amounted to 44 people
21:03, 16 December 2019

Losses of militants in the Donbas since the beginning of December 2019 amounted to 44 people. The press center of the Joint Forces Operation on Facebook reports.

Read more at: https://112.international/conflict-in-eastern-ukraine/in-joint-forces-operation-staff-published-losses-of-militants-in-donbas-since-beginning-of-december-46605.html

And the opposition (Democrats) accusing Trump of being friendly to Russia, do we still send US military advisors to Ukraine to help them in that war? I think YES.

Red Arrow Soldiers deployed in Ukraine for multinational mission
By Cpl. Jared SaathoffDecember 5, 2019



LVIV OBLAST, Ukraine -- Earlier this month, approximately 160 American Soldiers with the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team headquarters company deployed to Ukraine as Task Force Juvigny and assumed responsibility of the Joint Multinational Training Group - Ukraine at the Combat Training Center - Yavoriv.

TF Juvigny consists of Soldiers from several units across the Wisconsin Army National Guard; each of the Major Subordinate Commands; Joint Force Headquarters and the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team. They were selected for their unique skills and expertise in a variety of disciplines.

"No nation can confront today's challenges alone," said Col. John Oakley, Task Force Juvigny's commander. He added that, "the more capable and interoperable our militaries are, the better positioned we will be as a community to achieve our common goals of security, stability, and peace."

Read more here: https://www.army.mil/article/230649/red_arrow_soldiers_deployed_in_ukraine_for_multinational_mission

Please see story for more pictures.

[TomSea]

Some of these stories above are almost like something out of a Dostoevsky novel, great writer.

Russia dropped the Ukrainian president’s satirical TV show after censoring a Putin joke in episode one. According to preliminary data in Moscow, the ratings were actually pretty good.
12:46 pm, December 12, 2019   Source: Meduza

Studio Kvartal-95 / Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (УНИАН)

The show didn’t last long on Russian airwaves, but the first two episodes of Volydymr Zelensky’s political satire, “Servant of the People,” outperformed other shows on the TNT network (not to be confused with Turner Network Television) when they were broadcast on December 11, earning higher ratings than the Russian sitcoms “Interns” and “SashaTanya.” That’s according to Mediascope's preliminary data in Moscow. shared with Meduza by staff at two Russian TV networks.


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TNT’s December 11 broadcast of “Servant of the People” captured an estimated 4.6 percent of Russian TV viewers with its first double episode and five percent with its second episode. Before Zelensky’s program aired, TNT showed four episodes of “Interns,” which peaked with a 4.6-percent audience share, and afterward the network broadcast an episode of “SashaTanya” with a 4.1-percent audience share.

Read more at: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/12/12/russia-dropped-the-ukrainian-president-s-satirical-tv-show-after-censoring-a-putin-joke-in-episode-one-according-to-preliminary-data-in-moscow-the-ratings-were-actually-pretty-good

Some Ukrainians that I read, most of the "activist" types are peeved at how Trump has treated the nation. Twitter accounts like "Euromaidan" or GlasnostGone . Some though are largely silent on the matter such as Ruthen , Ruthenians were Ukrainian? In part? Ethnic group there, something to read up on.

This would be good for a continually updated thread.