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☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy Vows to Help Business After Banker's Detention
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged on Monday to take whatever measures were needed for the smooth operation of Ukrainian enterprises after the detention of a prominent banker caused an uproar in the business community. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said he had held "difficult" talks with prominent businessmen and was resolved to iron out the serious problems business people were confronting. And I have requested the necessary work be done to resolve all difficulties between government officials, businesses and law enforcement," he said. "During wartime, we must be united by one task, the strength of Ukraine, the power of our society, our economy," he said. He has been a frequent critic of law enforcement agencies and judges, accusing some of them of abusing their powers.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Ron Popeski, Oleksandr Kozhukhar, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Reuters, National Security, Defence Council, Concorde Capital Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Polish

LVIV, Ukraine, Nov 19 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has sanctioned 37 Russian groups and 108 people including a former prime minister and a former education minister and said he aimed to fight wartime abductions of children from Ukraine and other "Russian terror". Zelenskiy did not associate specific individuals or groups with particular wrongdoings. The decrees showed a range of 10-year penalties against individuals and five-year penalties against non-profit groups including one named in English as the "Russian Children's Foundation." Some of the newly-sanctioned people, which included many with Russian citizenship, had previously been punished with separate or similar penalties. The sanctioned Russian groups included several whose names or websites indicate they work with children.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Dmytro Tabachnyk, Mykola Azarov, Viktor Yanukovich, Azarov, Sergei Aksyonov, Leonid Pasechnik, Putin, Kvartal Lui, Maria Lvova, Vladimir Putin, Sofia Lvova, Alexander Lukashenko, Zelenskiy's, Elaine Monaghan, Franklin Paul Organizations: Russian Children's Foundation, Russian, Kyiv, Criminal, Lvova, Yale University, State Department, National Security, Defence Council, Franklin Paul Our, Thomson Locations: LVIV, Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, Russian, Crimea, Luhansk, Ukrainian, The Hague, Belarus, Putin, Washington

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy Slaps Sanctions on 108 People, 37 Russian Groups
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Maria Starkova and Elaine MonaghanLVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has sanctioned 37 Russian groups and 108 people including a former prime minister and a former education minister and said he aimed to fight wartime abductions of children from Ukraine and other "Russian terror". Zelenskiy did not associate specific individuals or groups with particular wrongdoings. The decrees showed a range of 10-year penalties against individuals and five-year penalties against non-profit groups including one named in English as the "Russian Children's Foundation." Some of the newly-sanctioned people, which included many with Russian citizenship, had previously been punished with separate or similar penalties. The sanctioned Russian groups included several whose names or websites indicate they work with children.

Persons: Maria Starkova, Elaine Monaghan, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Dmytro Tabachnyk, Mykola Azarov, Viktor Yanukovich, Azarov, Sergei Aksyonov, Leonid Pasechnik, Putin, Kvartal Lui, Maria Lvova, Vladimir Putin, Sofia Lvova, Alexander Lukashenko, Zelenskiy's, Franklin Paul Organizations: Reuters, Russian Children's Foundation, Russian, Kyiv, Criminal, Lvova, Yale University, State Department, National Security, Defence Council Locations: Elaine Monaghan LVIV, Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, Russian, Crimea, Luhansk, Ukrainian, The Hague, Belarus, Putin, Washington

☆ Ukraine says election of new U.S. House speaker won't affect future aid
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, speaks with Reuters during an interview, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 26 (Reuters) - A senior Ukrainian official said on Thursday the election of Mike Johnson, a U.S. Republican who has been an opponent to Ukraine aid, as speaker of the House of Representatives would not affect Washington's vital assistance for Kyiv. Johnson, who was named House speaker on Wednesday, told reporters he supported further aid to Ukraine "with conditions", with accountability and clear objectives from the White House. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, said Johnson's election was good for Ukraine because it ended a three-week leadership vacuum in the House. U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress last week to pass a $106 billion funding package which included billions of dollars in assistance for Ukraine.

Persons: Oleksiy Danilov, Valentyn, Mike Johnson, Johnson, Danilov, Joe Biden, Yuliia, Tom Balmforth, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: National Security, Defence Council, Reuters, REUTERS, Republican, Kyiv, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukrainian, U.S, United States

If the Black Sea is closed, the Danube is one of the main routes which we will need to use," he told Reuters by phone. Police said Danube grain warehouses had been hit on Monday in a drone attack along with tanks for storing other cargo. Since Monday's air strikes, the Danube channel has seen shipping disruptions, although it was unclear why there was a slowdown of vessel traffic. INSURANCE RATES RISEInsurance sources have said war risk cover for Ukraine's ports that was part of the defunct Black Sea grain deal had been suspended with some insurance providers reviewing provisions for Danube ports. The attack on the Danube infrastructure followed a week of Russian strikes that hit grain-related infrastructure at Odesa's main ports.

Persons: Russia's, Denys Marchuk, Carlos Mera, Mera, Marchuk, Danilov, Olena Harmash, Sybille de La, Tom Balmforth, William Maclean Organizations: Ukrainian Agrarian, Reuters, Police, EU, Romania, Agri Commodities Markets Research, Rabobank, Insurance, Kyiv, Russia, CMA CGM, National Security, Defence Council, Thomson Locations: KYIV, Moscow, Odesa, Reni, NATO, Russia, Izmail, Ukraine, China, Chornomorsk, Ukrainian, Italy, Kyiv, Western, Paris

Port infrastructure on the Danube river is the target this time," regional governor Oleh Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Global wheat and corn futures rose sharply on concern that Russia's attacks and more fighting, including a drone strike on Moscow, could threaten grain exports and shipping. "Russia has in the past months not attacked Ukraine's overland and inland waterways grain infrastructure," one European trader said. Another European grain trader said: "It’s clearly an attack on additional Ukrainian grain export infrastructure. "Russia hit another Ukrainian grain storage overnight," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

Persons: Oleh Kiper, Reni, Odesa, Dmytro Kuleba, Valentyn Ogirenko, Michael Hogan, Tom Balmforth, Timothy Organizations: Press Service, Operational Command, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia, Ukraine KYIV, European Union, Romania, Police, Maersk Group, Twitter, Ukraine's National Security, Defence Council, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Odesa Region, Russia, Kyiv, Port, Moscow, Reni, NATO, Romanian, Africa, Asia, Hamburg

☆ Exclusive: Wagner fighters neared Russian nuclear base during revolt
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +20 min

Reuters GraphicsOnce the Wagner fighters reach more rural regions, the surveillance trail goes cold – about 100 km from the nuclear base, Voronezh-45. But in an exclusive interview, Ukraine's head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the Wagner fighters went far further. The only barrier between the Wagner fighters and nuclear weapons, Budanov said, were the doors to the nuclear storage facility. It is one of Russia's 12 "national-level storage facilities" for nuclear weapons, according to a report by U.N. scientists. Another female resident also said Wagner had widespread support in the town, and that many Wagner fighters are from Boguchar.

Persons: Wagner, Ukraine's, Kyrylo Budanov, Budanov, Alexander Lukashenko, Adam Hodge, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Matt Korda, Vladimir Putin's, Hans Kristensen, David Jonas, Amy Woolf, Jonas, Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Staff Valery Gerasimov, Shoigu, Oleksiy Danilov, Don, Anna Sandrakova, Maxim Yantsov, Mikhail Vedernikov, Talovaya, Alexei Yablokov, Kristensen, Alexsandr Lukashenko, Dmitry Peskov, Lukashenko, he's, Mari Saito, Tom Balmforth, John Shiffman, Phil Stewart, Polina, Maria Tsvetkova, Anton Zverev, Christian Lowe, David Gauthier, Stephen Grey, Reade Levinson, Eleanor Whalley, Milan Pavicic, Daria Shamonova, Janet McBride Organizations: Reuters, Kremlin, Belarusian, U.S, White, National Security, Nuclear, Federation of American, Federation of American Scientists, U.S . National Nuclear Security Administration, Library, Congress, Wagner, State, Staff, Russian, Defence Ministry, Defence Council, Main, Russian Defence, U.S . Congress, Telegram, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russian, Voronezh, United States, Ukraine, Russia, Rostov, Talovaya, Soviet, Washington, dabble, Syria, Libya, Mali, ., Pavlovsk, Elizavetovka, Vorontsovka, Buturlinovka, Talovaya district, Pskov, Soviet Union, Belarus, Minsk, he's, St Petersburg, Kyiv, London, New York, Paris, Villars, Istanbul, Gdansk

☆ Ukraine reports 'particularly fruitful' few days in counteroffensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Dan Peleschuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The last few days have been particularly fruitful," he said, without providing any details from the battlefield. On Monday, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said fighting had surged around the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured by Russian forces in May. She said the Ukrainian military had taken back 37.4 square kilometres (14.4 square miles) of territory overall in heavy fighting in the past week. He said the Ukrainian military was managing to hold back an attempted advance by Russian forces in the Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka directions in eastern Ukraine. Russian shelling on Tuesday morning killed a man and a woman in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the local prosecutor's office said.

Persons: Read, Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine's, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Valeriy Shershen, Hanna Maliar, Andriy Kovalev, Avdiivka, Aleksandar Vasovic, Timothy Organizations: SIRKO TEAM, 225TH, Russian, National Security, Defence Council, Russia, Ukraine's Defense Forces, Ukraine's National Security, Defence, Twitter, Ukraine, Lyman, Reuters, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Russian, Northwest Bakhmut, Donetsk Region, Ukraine, KYIV, Ukrainian, Moscow, Bakhmut, Russia, Kherson

☆ Ukraine: Chaos in Russia works to our advantage
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 25 (Reuters) - Chaos in Russia works to Kyiv's advantage, Ukraine officials said on Saturday, but it remains to be seen whether President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his army can capitalise on the disorder caused this weekend as mercenaries marched towards Moscow. "Today the world saw that the masters of Russia do not control anything. Just complete chaos," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, urging Ukraine's allies to use the moment and send more weapons to Kyiv. "Any chaos behind the enemy lines works in our interests," State-run Ukrinform news agency quoted Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as saying on Saturday. Putin called Prigozhin's actions a "blow to Russia", but there were no immediate signs his rule was threatened.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Zelenskiy, Ukraine's, Vladimir Putin, Dmytro Kuleba, Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Kuleba, Antony Blinken, Oleksiy Danilov, Lidia Kelly, Tom Hogue Organizations: U.S, U.S . State Department, Kyiv, National Security, Defence Council, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Belarus, Kyiv, Washington, Krasnohorivka, Donetsk, Melbourne

☆ Ukraine to make personnel changes over bomb shelter deaths
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, June 23 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday there would be personnel changes following an inquest into the state of Ukraine's bomb shelters after three people were locked out on the street and killed during an air raid. The situation is especially cynical and shameful in those cities that have significant financial resources, but, unfortunately, have other priorities. Zelenskiy ordered an audit of all air raid shelters after the deaths of the three people, who rushed to a Kyiv air raid shelter that failed to open. Zelenskiy has criticised Kyiv city officials and prosecutors put the head of Kyiv's municipal department for security under house arrest following an audit of air raid shelters. After the bomb shelter incident, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said he bore some responsibility but that others were to blame, especially appointees of the president.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Vitali Klitschko, Olena Harmash, Timothy Organizations: National Security, Defence Council, European Union, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Kyiv's

☆ Ukraine has not yet launched counteroffensive, senior security official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Sergiy Karazy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, June 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine has not yet launched a planned counteroffensive to win back territory occupied by Russia, and its start will be obvious to everyone when it happens, a senior security official said on Wednesday. Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, dismissed statements by Russian officials who have said the counteroffensive has already begun. "When we start the counteroffensive, everyone will know about it, they will see it." Russian forces, who began their full-scale invasion in February 2022, are fighting Ukrainian troops along large parts of the frontline. He reiterated the Ukrainian position that there could be no talks until the Russian forces leave the Ukrainian territory.

Persons: Oleksiy Danilov, Danilov, Hanna Maliar, Sergiy Karazy, Olena Harmash, Timothy Organizations: National Security, Defence, Reuters, Deputy, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Russian, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Kyiv, Dnipro, Kherson, Moscow

☆ Kiyv reports gains near Bakmhut, denies broad counter-offensive under way
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian officials have said little directly in response to the Russian assertions although a senior security official on Wednesday denied the broad counter-offensive had begun. Ukrainian troops, she said, had been on the offensive in the area for several days and Russian troops were on a defensive footing, aiming to hold on to their positions. The Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday Ukraine had mounted attacks near Bakhmut, but that they had been unsuccessful. Kyiv hopes its counter-offensive will be a turning point in the war but has portrayed assaults under way as localised. "When we start the counter-offensive, everyone will know about it, they will see it," Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, told Reuters.

Persons: Hanna Maliar, Maliar, Olena Harmash, Pavel Polityuk, Tom Balmforth, Timothy Organizations: Kyiv, Wednesday, Press Service, Brigade, Ukrainian Armed Forces, REUTERS, Wednesday Ukraine, Reuters, National Security, Defence Council, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Bakhmut, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Donetsk, Donetsk region, REUTERS Russia, Kyiv, Russian

☆ Russia says it thwarts big attack in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Asked to comment, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said: "We do not have such information and we do not comment on any kind of fake." Further north, near the long-contested city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian forces were reported to have been "moving forward" by the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi. Russia has launched hundreds of drones and missiles on Ukraine since early May, chiefly on Kyiv, with Ukraine saying it was targeting military facilities but also hitting residential areas. Russia now controls at least 18% of what is internationally recognised to be Ukrainian territory, and has claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory. Ukraine vows to eject every last Russian soldier from its territory and casts the invasion as an imperial-style land grab by Russia.

Persons: Oleksiy Danilov, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Bakhmut, Oleksii Reznikov, Semyon Pegov, Gonzo, Staff Valery Gerasimov, William Burns, Vladimir Putin's, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, UKRAINE Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, David Ljunggren, Philippa Fletcher, Nick Macfie Organizations: Ukraine's Security, Defence Council, Reuters, Ukraine's General Staff, Strategic Communications, Ukrainian Defence, Twitter, Staff, Russian, CIA, Wall Street, UKRAINE, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, KYIV, Moscow, Ukraine's Donetsk, Bakhmut, Donetsk, South Donetsk, Ukrainian, Berkhivka, Luhansk, Russia's Belgorod, Velyka, Vuhledar, Russian, Kyiv

☆ Ukraine says Russia eases Bakhmut attacks, Kyiv talks up counteroffensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Separately, senior Ukrainian officials indicated their forces were ready to launch a long-promised counteroffensive to recapture territory taken by Russia since the start of the war. In a statement on Telegram, Ukraine Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Russian forces were continuing to attack but that overall offensive activity had decreased. Kyiv is expected to soon launch a highly anticipated counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied territory. Ukraine's top general, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, posted a sleekly produced video on Saturday showing Ukrainian troops swearing an oath and preparing for battle. Reporting by Dan Peleschuk and David Ljunggren; Editing by Conor Humphries and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine will 'test and use' any non-banned weapons to retake Crimea: official
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, April 14 (Reuters) - Ukraine will "test and use" any non-banned weapons to liberate its territory, including Russian-occupied Crimea, the head of its National Security and Defence Council said on Friday. Oleksiy Danilov's comment comes with Kyiv expected to mount a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months aimed at retaking Russian-held territory in the south and east. "Crimea is the territory of Ukraine, and we will test and use there any weapons not prohibited by international laws, that will help liberate our territories," he tweeted. Kyiv's Western partners have provided crucial military support, including modern battle tanks and armoured vehicles, since Russia's full-scale invasion last year. But they have stopped short of providing heavier weapons, such as F-16 fighter jets, which Ukraine has asked for.

☆ Romania aims to buy F-35 fighter planes to boost air defences
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUCHAREST, April 11 (Reuters) - Romania aims to buy the latest generation U.S. F-35 fighter planes to boost its air defences, the country's supreme defence council (CSAT) said in a statement on Tuesday. The European Union and NATO state has raised defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product this year from 2%, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Last year, President Klaus Iohannis said Romania was mulling acquiring F-35 planes, which are made by U.S. weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N). In March, the defense ministry said Romania would buy Abrams tanks made by General Dynamics (GD.N), as part of wider defence acquisitions plans. In December, Romania's defence ministry signed a deal to acquire seven Watchkeeper X unmanned aircraft systems from Israeli defence electronics firm Elbit Systems (ESLT.TA) for roughly 1.89 billion lei ($418.02 million).

☆ Ukraine slams Putin plan to station Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Dan Peleschuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Making a statement about tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, he admits that he is afraid of losing & all he can do is scare with tactics," Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted. Washington, the world's other nuclear superpower, played down concerns about Putin's announcement and the potential for Moscow to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. The official noted that Russia and Belarus had been speaking about the transfer of nuclear weapons for some time. However, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons called Putin's announcement an extremely dangerous escalation. Sharing nuclear weapons makes the situation much worse and risks catastrophic humanitarian consequences," it said on Twitter.

☆ Inside Ukraine’s scramble for “game-changer” drone fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

It is hoping that domestic drone makers like AeroDrone will help it meet its ambitious goals. The government is now working with more than 80 Ukraine-based drone manufacturers, Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Reuters. RUSSIAN TERRITORYThe range and potency of Ukraine's drones is a sensitive issue. Danilov, the national security council head, acknowledged Ukraine’s reliance on other countries for more high-tech drone components. "We are trying to fulfil our needs in this sector with domestic production, but we realise that it's unlikely we will be able to fulfil everything," he said.

☆ Drone crash shows Putin ready to expand conflict zone - Ukrainian official
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, speaks with Reuters during an interview, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File PhotoKYIV, March 15 (Reuters) - An incident involving a U.S. spy drone and a Russian fighter jet is a signal that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to expand the Ukraine-Russia conflict zone, a senior Ukrainian security official said on Wednesday. The U.S. military said on Tuesday a Russian fighter plane had clipped the propeller of a spy drone and made it crash into the Black Sea. Moscow denied the aircraft had collided and said the drone had crashed after "sharp manoeuvres". The Ukrainian presidency and government did not immediately offer any official comment on the incident but Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, voiced concern on Twitter.

[1/2] Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, speaks with Reuters during an interview, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 7, 2023. "Attempts at an offensive in either the Kharkiv or Zaporizhzhia direction will of course be made," he said, speaking in his office in the capital, Kyiv. Russian forces have been trying to encircle and capture Bakhmut for weeks at a steep cost. Danilov said Kyiv expected Russia to seek to achieve demonstrable results around the one-year anniversary of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24. Earlier, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces could try to attack from Moscow's ally Belarus to the northwest.

☆ Ukraine Braces for Major Russian Offensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jared Malsin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ukrainian servicemen took part in military drills in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, in January. Russia is preparing to launch a major new offensive against Ukraine in the coming weeks, a top Ukrainian security official said, adding to mounting concerns in Kyiv and the West that the Kremlin is preparing a renewed push to seize large areas of the country. “Russia is preparing for maximum escalation,” said Oleksiy Danilov , the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, in an interview with Sky News published online early Wednesday local time. “It is gathering everything possible, doing drills and training.”

☆ Ukraine, Baltics rebuke Macron for suggesting 'security guarantees' for Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

read moreUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's top aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, said that it is the world that needs security guarantees from Russia, not the other way around. "Civilized world needs 'security guarantees' from barbaric intentions of post-Putin Russia," Podolyak said on Twitter on Sunday. "Someone wants to provide security guarantees to a terrorist and killer state?" "The only security guarantees we should focus on are essentially non-Russian," he said on his Twitter account. "After that, we are ready to sit down at the negotiation table and talk about security guarantees."

After signing the deal, military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said civilians should control politics and guide foreign policy. Last year's military coup halted a power-sharing arrangement between the military and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition, and Sudan has been without a prime minister since the start of the year. The takeover led to more than a year of mass protests against the military, during which security forces killed more than 100 civilians, according to a tally by medics. [1/5] Signatory parties stand and raise signed copies of the agreement between military rulers and civilian powers in Khartoum, Sudan December 5, 2022. International partners, who helped mediate the framework deal, say a credible civilian government is needed before assistance can be restored.

☆ Sudanese anti-corruption figure freed on eve of political deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The framework deal would, according to a copy seen by Reuters, involve a two-year, civilian-led political transition in which the military's role would be limited to a security and defence council headed by a prime minister. But it sets no time for a final deal and leaves sensitive issues including transitional justice and security sector reform for further talks. Leftist politician Wagdi Salih, who was freed at a police station in the capital Khartoum, was at the forefront of an anti-corruption committee tasked with dismantling Bashir's regime. The FFC had called Salih's arrest in October "purely political". Talks have been facilitated by the United Nations, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

☆ Ukraine seeks ban on churches 'affiliated' with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Dan Peleschuk | Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KYIV, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The Ukrainian government will draw up a law banning churches affiliated with Russia under moves described by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as necessary to prevent Moscow being able to "weaken Ukraine from within." The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) it said was searching at least five parishes belonging to a branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which until May was subordinated to the Russian Orthodox Church. The branch has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine but many Ukrainians fear it could be a source of Russian influence in the country. "Therefore, the state of Ukraine does not have any legal grounds to put pressure on or repress our believers," he said. The Orthodox Church in Russia has lavishly backed the Kremlin's nine-month-old invasion of Ukraine.

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