Ukraine: Daily Briefing July 29, 2019, 8 PM Kyiv time
1. Russian Invasion of Ukraine Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reported at 12:30 PM Kyiv time that in the last 72 hours one service member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was wounded in action. Yesterday, Russia-led proxy forces broke ceasefire and engaging the positions of the Ukrainian military near Mar’inka in the Donetsk sector of the front, while on Saturday Russian proxies opened fire in the Luhansk sector. On July 29 the elite branch of the Ukrainian military, Special Operations Forces (SOF) celebrate their professional holiday. Having been established in 2016 SOF are the youngest branch in the Armed Forces. Their objectives are combat missions, counter-terrorism operations, raids behind enemy lines and the release of prisoners. |
2. Ukraine Takes Another Step Toward Freedom From Russia
In his article Mike Gonzalez offers a unique overview of the latest events including the seizure of the Russian tanker by Ukrainian Security Service, Minsk negotiations, language issue, and what Putin sees as a zero-sum game. “Over the long term, the best hope for Ukraine to live alongside its larger neighbor without fear of constant harassment is to wait for the Soviet generation to die off,” reads the article. Read the full text here |
3. Russia Closes ¼ of the Black Sea, 50-year contract, €250 million loan from Cargill, Call Against Human Rights Violations, Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Who’s Poland’s Priority at the UN
|
4. New Statesman (Opinion): Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky Cannot be a Servant of the People and of Oligarchy  Now that the president’s party controls the majority of the parliament Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in great position to deliver the changes he promised. “The most important of these is his signature pledge to give Ukrainians “a life without corruption, without bribes”,” reads today’s article in New Statesman. “A series of new initiatives to crack down on low-level graft is planned, including a shift to e-government and a bonfire of petty regulations that allow officials to demand bribes for the provision of basic services. These have long been the bane of Ukrainian life and a serious impediment to entrepreneurship, so radical measures could transform the everyday experience of voters. It’s in regard to the top end of Ukrainian society that the sincerity of Zelensky’s pledge to put an end to corruption has to be questioned,” writes David Clark. |
5. Bloomberg (Opinion): The Seas Are Unsafe in a Transactional World
On July 26, Bloomberg News released an op-ed by Leonid Bershidsky who talks about the impunity for seizing the ships of another country. “The seizure of a number of ships in recent months tells an uncomfortable story. In today’s multi-polar world, countries can grab other nations’ vessels and get away with it,” he wrote. He talks about confrontations between Russia and Ukraine, Iran and the U.K., U.S. and North Korea. “International rules, such as multilateral sanctions or the Law of the Sea, are nothing without reliable enforcement,” summarizes the author. However, in his opinion “Ukraine, for example would be entirely justified in finding Russian prisoners to trade for its sailors.” Read the full text here |
