[Ohio UZO News] Ukraine: FT; LAT; IHT; AP; EDM

[Deychak, Orest]

Financial Times

www.ft.com

Yushchenko implicates former friend in dioxin poison plot

By Roman Olearchyk in Kiev 

Published: July 25 2008 03:00 

Viktor Yushchenko yesterday threw the four-year investigation into his
near-fatal dioxin poisoning into turmoil when he implicated a former
close friend and Orange Revolution ally.

Asked during a televised press conference if he suspected David Zhvania,
godfather to one of his children, the Ukraine president said: "I think,
yes. And that is putting it softly."

The question was prompted by persistent rumours of Mr Zhvania's
involvement in the September 2004 poisoning that -disfigured Mr
Yushchenko's face.

Mr Zhvania, a Georgian native and current Ukrainian parliamentarian for
a pro-Yushchenko party, held a senior position in the president's
hard-fought 2004 election campaign.

Mr Zhvania has denied any involvement in the case and has cast doubt on
whether Mr Yushchenko was poisoned at all, suggesting the illness might
have been caused by pancreatitis, herpes and facial nerve inflammation.

He has also accused the president's office of spearheading a legal
campaign to strip him of his Ukrainian citizenship.

Mr Yushchenko declined to discuss the issue in detail so as not to
interfere in an investigation. Prosecutors say there are no formal
suspects.

The case has gripped Ukraine ever since the pro-democracy Orange
Revolution of 2004 propelled Mr Yushchenko to power over the
Kremlin-backed candidate Victor Yanukovich.

In the past, Mr Yushchenko has suggested that the main suspects over his
poisoning, a few -individuals, had fled to -Russia.

The case has affected relations with Russia, as many Ukrainians suspect
possible involvement by Moscow.

Oleksiy Donskiy, a prosecutor investigating the case, has not named Mr
Zhvania as a suspect.

Los Angeles Times

The World; Ukraine leader blames friend in attack 

>From the Associated Press

25 July 2008

A-9

KIEV, UKRAINE

President Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday accused the godfather of one of
his children of involvement in his near-fatal dioxin poisoning in 2004.

Yushchenko did not provide evidence for his claim that David Zhvania
participated in giving him a massive dose of dioxin that sickened him
and left his face badly scarred. Zhvania is a legislator with the Our
Ukraine-Self Defense bloc, which supports the president.

In September 2004, while campaigning for the presidency, Yushchenko fell
gravely ill after attending a dinner with Zhvania that was hosted by two
top security officials.

This summer, Zhvania angered Yushchenko by alleging that he had suffered
only from food poisoning, not dioxin, and accusing his staff of
inventing a politically motivated attack to boost his popularity in the
close presidential race.

Asked Thursday at a news conference whether he thought Zhvania took part
in the poisoning, Yushchenko answered, "I think yes, to put it mildly."

Zhvania countered that Yushchenko's poisoning had yet to be proved. He
said Yushchenko's statement was "absolutely ill-considered and
irresponsible" and showed his disregard for the rule of law.

The president has accused Russia of stalling the investigation by
refusing to extradite key figures, including an official who was a host
of the dinner

 

International Herald Tribune

AP

 

Orthodox leader calls for unity among Ukraine's churches, hints at
independence from Moscow 

By MARIA DANILOVA 

Associated Press Writer

25 July 2008

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - The spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox faith
called Friday for religious unity within Ukraine and carefully hinted at
possible independence for the local church, which is trying to move away
from the powerful Russian patriarch.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople is visiting Ukraine
for three-day celebrations marking the 1,020th anniversary of this
region's conversion to Christianity.

However, the event risks turning into a fierce political battle between
Kiev, which is eager to win independence from Moscow for the local
church, and the powerful Russian Orthodox Church fighting to maintain
influence over this nation of 46 million.

"We came to here to pray together with you for the unification of all
Orthodox Christians in Ukraine into a single church, a church of your
people, a church of your country," Bartholomew said at a festive
welcoming ceremony at the airport. "We came as angels of peace, those
who strive for unity, freedom and peace."

In a bow to Moscow, Bartholomew also thanked Russian Patriarch Alexy II
for the opportunity "to mark this wonderful occasion together."

Bartholomew's visit is an important victory for Ukrainian President
Viktor Yushchenko, who is trying to establish an independent Orthodox
church in his country. It is the first time the spiritual leader of the
world's Orthodox believers has visited Ukraine in 350 years.

Bartholomew's references to "a church of your country" and "freedom"
were interpreted by many Ukrainians as support for their own church.

Representatives of the Russian Orthodox church complained they were shut
out of the preparations. Alexy II is expected to arrive at the
festivities Saturday.

Experts say that the Ukrainian church is bound to attain independence in
the long run. However, an abrupt decision could lead to a deep split
between Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church, which claims 95
million out of the world's 250 million Orthodox believers and is the
biggest in the world.

Efforts to win autonomy have split the Ukrainian church, with two
breakaway churches setting themselves up since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Both churches are smaller than Ukraine's Russian-affiliated church,
which claims up to 28 million believers here.

Later in the day, Bartholomew and Yushchenko laid flowers at the
monument of prince Volodymyr, who 1,020 years ago initiated the Slavic
world's conversion to Christianity by marching his servants into Kiev's
Dnieper River to be baptized.

AP

 

Ukraine bars entry to Russian nationalist lawmaker amid Black Sea Fleet
dispute 

25 July 2008

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukraine has barred a Russian nationalist lawmaker
from entering the country for a year amid growing tension between Kiev
and Moscow over military and religious issues, border officials said
Friday.

Konstantin Zatulin was denied entry Thursday upon arrival at the airport
in Simferopol and informed he was barred. State Border Service spokesman
Serhiy Astakhov said the ban was ordered by law-enforcement officials,
but he did not have further details.

Officials of the national security service could not be reached for
comment.

Simferopol is near Sevastopol, the Ukrainian port that is home of the
Russian Black Sea Fleet. Ukrainian officials have indicated they do not
want to renew the Russian fleet's lease when it expires in 2017. The
issue is likely to be in focus when the Russian fleet celebrates Navy
Day on Sunday.

Russian nationalists regard the Crimean peninsula, where Sevastopol is
located, as rightfully part of Russia. Moscow also is angry about
Ukraine's push to join NATO, and recent NATO-Ukraine naval exercises
prompted protests.

Zatulin had been declared persona non grata in Ukraine in the past over
his participation in anti-NATO protests in the Crimea.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Ukrainian Ambassador Konstantin
Grishchenko and told him the ban on Zatulin was "scandalous," a ministry
statement said.

The statement also said the ambassador heard Russia's complaints that
celebrations of the 1,020th anniversary of Ukraine's and Russia's
conversion to Christianity are being held "with disrespect to the
leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church and the feelings of millions
of Orthodox believers."

Earlier this year Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov was also barred from Ukraine
for suggesting that Sevastopol belongs to Russia.

The Crimean peninsula was for centuries part of the Russian empire and
then of Soviet Russia. In 1954, Nikita Khrushchev awarded it to Soviet
Ukraine, where he lived and ruled for many years.

After the 1991 Soviet collapse, the Crimea became part of independent
Ukraine.

Eurasia Daily Monitor

July 25, 2008

SUB-ROSA WARFARE IN THE CRIMEA

On the evening of July 24, 2008, Russian State Duma member Konstantin
Zatulin was banned from entering Ukraine for one year when he arrived in
Simferopol airport in the Crimea with a group of Russian
parliamentarians to take part in the commemoration of the 1,020th
anniversary of the conversion to Christianity of Kievan-Rus. The
Ukrainian Security Service, the SBU, announced that it initiated a
criminal case against him for "attempting to destabilize public order"
(Ukrayinska Pravda, July 25).

Zatulin, the head of the Duma's commission on CIS affairs, has been in
the forefront of demanding that Crimea be returned to Russia.

The Zatulin affair occurred the same day that Ukrainian President Viktor
Yushchenko once again brought up the need to immediately begin talks
between Russia and Ukraine on the removal of the Russian Black Sea fleet
from Sevastopol in 2017.

"The start of negotiations on the removal of Russia's Black Sea fleet
from Ukrainian territory should be included in the agenda of our
relations," he said in a press conference. Russia should consider the
20-year lease allowing its fleet to be based in the port of Sevastopol
"a unique gesture of goodwill by the Ukrainian nation," Yushchenko said
according to ITAR-TASS on July 24. "I am convinced we must do everything
possible beforehand. And beforehand is not to say prematurely."
Yushchenko's timing could be seen as a warning to Moscow that talks
should not be influenced by public pressure from such proponents of
breaking Crimea away from Ukraine as Zatulin and Moscow mayor Yuriy
Luzhkov, and that their agitation will not be tolerated.

Earlier, on July 2, 2008, Moscow's politically well connected mayor,
Yuriy Luzhkov, announced that the municipality would send $34 million
from its own budget to the Crimea in order to "promote the teaching of
the Russian language" and to support the "Diaspora abroad" in 2009-2011,
Kommersant online reported. Earlier, Luzhkov urged the Russian State
Duma not to prolong the Russian-Ukrainian treaty of peace and
cooperation which is due to expire at the end of 2008.

Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, the flamboyant mayor, whose
wife, Yelena Baturina, is widely regarded as one of the wealthiest women
in Russia and is reputed to be a major real estate investor in the
Crimea, announced his latest crusade-to save ethnic Russian Ukrainian
citizens in Crimea from the terrible fate of learning the language of
the country they live in.

Luzhkov, who is currently banned from entering Ukraine as a result of
his unceasing efforts to reclaim the peninsula for Russia from Ukraine,
offered a breakdown of how this money would be spent.

The mayor's office told Kommersant that 180 million rubles ($7.65
million) will go toward "direct support for the united Russian Diaspora
abroad," 65.2 million rubles ($2.76 million) will be allocated for
"information cooperation" with this Diaspora and 335.5 million rubles (
$14.2 million) is slated to support the Russian language, culture and
education.

Where the other $11 million will go was not revealed.

Luzhkov's statement was supported by Sergey Tsekov, the head of the
"Russian Community of the Crimea," who told the media that
"Russophobia...is the essence of Ukrainian policy."

The vague descriptions of how this money would be spent lends itself to
various interpretations; direct support for Russians abroad could well
mean financing various separatist groups who could arguably engage in
terrorist acts against Ukrainian authorities in the Crimea. Luzhkov's
"cultural" money could also well be a means of channeling funds for
Russian covert intelligence operations in the region.

When the Ukrainian Security Service, the SBU, announced in June that
Luzhkov would be denied entrance to Ukraine, the announcement
underscored that the mayor of Moscow was suspected of money laundering
via the Crimea. No proof of this has yet been offered and Luzhkov has
not made any denials.

The possibility that such money could be used to fund a sub-rosa
operation is not as remote as it might seem. On July 1, 2008 the website
of the SBU (www.sbu.gov.ua/sbu/control) reported that it had arrested
two individuals in the Crimea, members of the unregistered "National
Front - Sevastopol-Crimea-Russia" group, and charged them with agitation
for dismembering the "territorial integrity of Ukraine."

The "National Front" was created in August 2005 and includes 12
pro-Russian public associations in the Crimea. Last year its activists
declared the beginning of a campaign "Ukraine without the Crimea." They
stated that the objective of the campaign was to maintain the term
"Crimean autonomy" in the wording of the Ukrainian constitution, Ekho
Moskvy radio reported on July 1, 2008.

But their actions are alleged to be far more radical and the source of
their funding remains a mystery. Did it initially come from earlier
grants provided by the Moscow city budget or were other, less visible,
donors involved?

The SBU press release noted that recently (the dates were not specified)
five spies working under diplomatic cover were declared persona non
grata and asked to leave Ukraine. The SBU refused to name which
countries the spies were from.

More ominously, the SBU stated that 38 Ukrainian citizens were warned
that they were targets of recruitment by foreign intelligence
services-by which countries services the SBU did not specify. The
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, the CIA and the Turkish
national intelligence service, the MIT, all come to mind, however the
SVR appears to be the most likely culprit.

Moreover, the Crimean branch of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU)
appears to be extremely well funded. The CPU has been in the forefront
of organizing anti-NATO demonstrations in the Crimea

Where is the money coming from to fund the anti-Ukrainian campaign in
the Crimea?

Luzhkov's charitable donations are not a recent development. In
2006-2008 Moscow donated 432 million rubles ($18.3 million) toward
similar projects in the Crimea, Kommersant wrote on July 1, quoting a
spokesman for Luzhkov.

Earlier, in the 1990s, the pro-Russian movement in the Crimea was headed
by the so-called Republican Movement of the Crimea, which was regarded
by the SBU at the time as nothing more than a front for organized crime
on the peninsula. The Republican Movement eventually disappeared and was
replaced by more legitimate groups, but their legitimacy-and their
funding-is now under suspicion and Yuriy Luzhkov, or his wife, might one
day be asked to account for this.

Are these charitable donations being run by Luzhkov alone? Is the mayor
of Moscow a rogue elephant, privatizing Russian foreign policy? Is the
new Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, aware of his activities and does
he condone them as part of his announced intention to see that the rule
of law is supreme in Russia?

-- Roman Kupchinsky





 

 

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