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Masquerading as Reporter, Assassin Hunted Putin Foes in Ukraine New York Times KIEV, Ukraine Ukrainians have long struggled with fake news from Russia, but last week, they discovered something even more insidious: a fake journalist. The man was tall and dapper. He wore a dark suit and spoke with a French accent. When he met ...

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Masquerading as Reporter, Assassin Hunted Putin Foes in Ukraine - New York Times

Ukrainians are finally starting to see that spring has arrived following a string of positive developments.

Its the Ukrainian national habit to complain, but there has been a lot of good news lately, said Ukraines Deputy Minister of Trade Nataliya Mykolska in an interview while on a trade mission to Canada. Naftogaz won the Stockholm arbitration case against Gazprom on its merits. The importance is that we can buy gas from Russia at market prices and not at their inflated prices.

Still to be decided by arbitration is Naftogazs counterclaim against Gazprom, alleging overcharges of $30.3 billion.

Interestingly, this good news, and more, was circulated on the Facebook page of Vlad Rashkovan, an official with the IMF. Stop saying that in Ukraine, nothing changes, he wrote inviting others to join in. Look at the results of the last two months.

Indeed, progress is underway. Here is his shortened list of fifteen leaps forward, followed by a few others:

June 1: Canada ratified the free trade agreement with Ukraine.

May 31: The international arbitration court in Stockholm rejected Gazproms controversial take or pay claim, ruling in Naftogazs favor.

May 30: The Dutch senate approved ratification of the EU-Ukraine association agreement.

May 30: The state e-auction system Prozorro sold the assets of bankrupt banks for one billon hryvnia, preparing for participation in the auctions of small privatizations.

May 17: The European Union approved Ukraines visa-free agreement.

May 13: The Eurovision Song Contest held in Ukraine was recognized by the Eurovision board as a success.

May 3: Ukraine rose thirty points on the Global Open Data Index, besting most EU countries. The country is now ranked as the twenty-fourth most open, after Sweden, Germany, and Hong Kong.

April-May: as a part of the currency liberalization strategy, the National Bank of Ukraine canceled a series of capital controls requirements.

April 26: President Petro Poroshenko signed a law easing the merger and capitalization procedures for small banks.

April 19: The Cabinet of Ministers approved financing for dredging a new grain terminal currently built by MV-Cargo company, which is a joint venture of Cargill. The total amount of investments is $150 million, and is also financed by the EBRD and IFC.

April 14: Poroshenko signed a law on a three-year state budget process.

April 13: The Ukrainian parliament approved a law on the electricity market, which introduced a series of important reforms to liberalize the countrys energy market.

April 3: The International Monetary Fund agreed to release the next tranche of $1 billion, bringing total disbursements to $8.38 billion.

April 3: As a follow-up of a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development-funded project, a law on financial restructuring and the secretariat for financial restructuring of corporations has become operational.

April 1: The Ministry of Finance launched an automatic electronic register of VAT reimbursement.

Its an impressive list. Here are four more:

Clearly, more people are realizing that Ukraine is strategically important as the largest country in Europe with great potential. Ukraine is the worlds fourth most educated; the third largest IT outsource nation in the world after the United States and India; an agricultural giant which is the largest exporter of sunflower oil, second largest grain exporter and third largest exporter of corn, and will be an economic powerhouse once it overthrows its corrupt elites and defeats Russia. Millions of Ukrainians who have left, and billions of dollars, will flood into the country if reformers win the federal election in 2019.

The struggle has been long and slow. But culturally Ukrainians have chosen Europe over the corrupt Soviet system. And while many of us would want change more quickly the fact is that nothing, and no one, can stop its destiny.

Diane Francis is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, Editor at Large with the National Post in Canada, a Distinguished Professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management, and author of ten books.

First published Atlantic Council June 7, 2017

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A Good Spring For Ukraine! - HuffPost

Ukraine Says Botched Killing Has Moscow's Fingerprints Wall Street Journal (subscription) KIEV, UkraineA botched assassination attempt in Kiev is providing a glimpse into what officials here say is a string of killings orchestrated by the Kremlin, exposing a deadly underside of Russia's intervention in Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities have ...

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Ukraine Says Botched Killing Has Moscow's Fingerprints - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

New photos of Ukrainian special operations forces show a steady increase in Western influence. With elite forces already a critical part of the fight against Russian-backed separatists in the countrys eastern Donbass region, officials in Kiev have no doubt been keen to take any lessons, even indirectly, from their counterparts in the United States and Europe.

One June 8, 2017, Ukraines Ministry of Defense posted a number of undated images of special operators or candidates during training. The pictures showed troops maneuvering through temperate, snowy, urban, and nighttime environments, as well as conducting apparent team-building type exercises. More importantly, their weapons and gear are very similar to the kit that American and Western European special operations forces commonly employ.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the newly independent Ukraine inherited a significant number of existing military units, along with associated military infrastructure, weapons, and other equipment. These included both military spetnaz a contraction of the Russian words spetsialnogo naznacheniya, meaning special purpose, which has become a catch-all term in Russia and many post-Soviet states for elite formations and other specialized personnel within the Ministry of the Interior.

Ukraine MoD

So its perhaps not surprising that the bulk of the weapons on display were derivatives of Soviet-era designs, including members of the legendary Kalashnikov rifle family and the ubiquitous PKM light machine gun. At least one of the operators has a much more uncommon Stechkin APS pistol with a sound suppressor. This handgun fires the same 9x18mm cartridge as the Makarov pistol, but has the ability to fire fully automatic at a rate of 750 rounds per minute. In this mode, a shooter could burn through a full 20-round magazine in a matter of a couple seconds. The 9x18mm round is notably less powerful than NATO-standard 9x19mm ammunition.

Ukraine MoD

A member of Ukraine's special operations forces with a suppressed Stechkin APS pistol.

Ukrainian companies, such as RPC Fort, still produce many of these weapons, as well as updated versions, as well as the ammunition to go along with them. However, the Ukrainian special operators have versions of these old standbys covered in accessory rails and fitted with various red dot optical sights. One spetnaz troop has a combination of an EOTech Holosight and a magnifier. This allows the operator to switch rapidly between sights better suited for close-in and longer range engagements.

Ukraine MoD

A Ukrainian spetnaz operator with a rifle featuring both an EOTech Holosight and a magnifier.

In May 2017, Military Times spotted a fighter with an elite element of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units rebel group, better known as the YPG, carrying a similar configuration in Syria, which it said was indicative of American support for the unit. A separate video showed Ukrainian elite troops have been using the configuration for more than a year.

Fort has also begun license producing a number of Israeli-designed weapons, including a number of versions of the Israeli Weapons Industries Tavor TAR-21 bullpup rifle. Ukrainian special operators appear in one of the pictures carrying a short-barrel version of this 5.56mm weapon, which would be ideal for urban operations or when rapidly moving in and out of a vehicle or helicopter.

Ukraine MoD

A blurry shot of one of Ukraine's spetnaz troops with a Fort-built clone of the IWI Tavor.

In addition, snipers are seen with sniper rifles featuring rail accessory hand guards and lightweight, modular stocks similar to the U.S. Armys M2010 or U.S. Special Operations Commands Mk 21 Mod 0 Precision Sniper Rifle. As early as 2013, Ukraine's PJSC Mayak Plant, under direction from the state-run arms enterprise Ukroboronprom, had already begun designing precision weapons in the NATO-standard 7.62x51mm cartridge, as well as .338 Lapua Magnum, a round popular among Western military forces.

Ukraine MoD

On top of that, most of the elite forces in the pictures are dressed in the uniforms with a camouflage scheme similar to the U.S. militarys Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) or the commercial Multicam design, both of which have long been popular among American special operators. Some wear lightweight Ops-Core helmets, which were also cited in Military Times May 2017 report from Syria. One image shows two spetnaz, including one with a PKM machine gun, driving a small all-terrain buggy similar in size and shape to the Polaris MRZR that U.S. special operations forces and other specialized units have in service. In May 2016, these vehicles appeared with elite American troops in Iraq, too.

Ukraine MoD

To be fair, Russias own spetnaz have been adopting a lot of similar kit since the end of the Cold War. However, the exact types of gear Ukrainian special operations forces are using, and even the brands in question, highlight increased interactions with their American counterparts and possible active shared training sessions. Its worth noting that in April 2016 Ukrainian Major General Ihor Lunyov, head of the countrys Special Operations Forces Command (SOFCOM), and his staff traveled to Stuttgart, Germany to meet with U.S. Air Force Major General Gregory Lengyel, then in charge of Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). Two months later, Lengyel left to take up the post of Deputy Commanding General of the secretive Joint Special Operations Command.

SOCEUR

U.S. Air Force Major General Gregory Lengyel, then SOCEUR Commander, talks to Ukrainian Major General Ihor Lunyov in April 2016.

The visit consisted of briefings and discussions at the SOCEUR Headquarters on the current state of Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF), the U.S. and partner nation SOF contributions to the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission, along with a conversation on the future structure and the development of the Ukrainian SOCOM's institutional capacities, according to an official press release. The visit concluded with a joint demonstration by [U.S.] Army and Navy SOF at a local training area.

Ukrainian officials have been eager to expand the ranks of their elite units since Russia seized control of the Crimea region in March 2014 and then began actively supporting separatist factions elsewhere in the country. The spetnaz community, both in the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior, had already been deeply entangled in the countrys many crises.

Ukraine MoD

The Ministry of Interiors Berkut special purpose force was heavily implicated in the violent crackdown that led to Ukraines 2014 revolution, which in turn unseated pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych and touched off a series of events lead to the countrys civil war. In the aftermath, the new Ukrainian government disbanded Berkut.

Other spetnaz units, which were among the best trained and equipped, were also entangled in the countrys political upheaval, with some members reportedly defecting to Russia or joining Russian-backed militia in the Crimea and Donbass regions. Those that remained loyal to officials in Kiev were quickly deployed to combat separatists who had established de facto statelets in the countrys Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.

Ukraine MoD

During the fighting in and around Donetsk Airport in 2015, Kremlin-supported forces dubbed the Ukrainian defenders, which included members of the 3rd Spetnaz Regiment, as inhuman cyborgs for their tenacity. They only abandoned their positions after repeated artillery bombardments and assaults with tanks and other armored vehicles.

Unfortunately, though supportive of the government in Kiev and its claims to territorial integrity, the United States has gone back and forth on just how active its support should be and whether military assistance should include the sale of offensive weapons like artillery pieces and anti-tank missiles. So far, the only publicly announced SOCEUR engagement in Ukraine involved medical training.

Given that they remain at the forefront of the countrys internal security campaign, Ukraines spetnaz contingents would want to seek out top of the line weapons and gear in general. But the new images suggest ties with Western elite units may be expanding, either directly or indirectly.

Contact the author: jtrevithickpr@gmail.com

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Ukrainian Spetnaz's Weapons and Gear May Show an American Touch - The Drive

Commentary | Jun. 9, 2017

His Beatitude Lubomyr Cardinal Husar was the spiritual father of todays Ukraine, but also of many of us.

I knew Father Lubomyr, Bishop Husar and His Beatitude over 50 years in different countries on two continents. As a boy I saw him in the United States in the mid-1960s during summer vacations in the borscht belt of the Catskills in New York state, where he was a parish pastor. Already at that time, he captivated young and old, intellectuals and simple people, by his authenticity and humor.

In the late 1970s and 1980s in Rome, Father Lubomyr was our spiritual director at the seminary and my personal confessor. Then, in Ukraine, for nearly 20 years, I was honored to be a close collaborator.

He was born in 1933 in the city of Lviv, then within the borders of interwar Poland. As a child, Lubomyr endured the horrors of Soviet and Nazi occupations of western Ukraine before the Husar family fled to Austria in 1944. There he went to high school and mastered German and Latin. With his parents he moved to the United States in 1949. In Stamford, Connecticut, Washington and New York, he completed undergraduate and graduate seminary studies and a specialization in philosophy.

After serving as a parish priest and teaching foreign languages and philosophy at St. Basils Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Stamford, he went to Rome and there completed a doctorate in ecclesiology and ecumenism. Longing for a more contemplative life, he became a monk of the Studite order in 1972. In 1977, he was secretly consecrated a bishop by Cardinal Josyf Slipyi.

By the mid-1970s the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), outlawed in the Soviet Union in 1946, had been clandestine for 30 years. Lubomyrs episcopal consecration and his status as a bishop remained a secret he was a reserve bishop for the Church of the catacombs in case the Soviets succeeded in eliminating hierarchical apostolic succession in the UGCC. Thus, he continued his monastic life and his teaching at the Urbaniana University and the Lviv seminary for 19 years in Rome and, after 1993, in newly independent Ukraine.

In 1996, seeing the great spiritual gifts of the secret bishop, Pope St. John Paul II publicly acknowledged his episcopal consecration. It was with the Popes support that, in 2001, the Greek Catholic Church of Ukraine chose Lubomyr Husar as its leader. A week after the election, the Holy Father named him cardinal.

The past 15 years of deep social upheaval have been heartrending for a traumatized post-communist Ukrainian society. At the time of the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity, as well as during the last three years of war, Cardinal Husar was a voice of wisdom, reassurance and hope. He became the most recognized moral authority of the country, despite being the leader of a minority church (10% of the population).

Lubomyr Husar was endowed with many talents spirituality, intelligence, sensitivity, great imagination and a remarkable ability to communicate. He preached and sang with a beautiful, resonant baritone. He was considered the best preacher of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church of the past 50 years.

But above all, he was a man of prayer, a monk thirsting for communion with God. As a priest, archimandrite and hierarch, he prayed ceaselessly to be in union with the Lord and lead others toward this communion. His prayer gave him the fortitude and peace necessary to endure many physical ailments. He was functionally blind for the last 12 years of his life. Most people were not fully aware of his handicap. He never complained.

For Lubomyr Husar, the unity of Christian churches was of utmost importance. He wrote his doctorate on a pioneer of ecumenism, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and his theology and spirituality of reconciliation among Christians. His Beatitude patiently wrought unity among the bishops of the synod of UGCC, who were deeply divided at the time of his election. He brought together Ukrainians of different confessions, or without confession, becoming for them a spiritual father and moral beacon.

Taxi drivers, hipsters, the young and old, business persons and artists, practicing parishioners and those who were not members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church listened to Husars audio and video broadcasts. The cardinal contributed to rapprochement between Ukrainians, Poles and Jews. He dreamed of the end of the war and peace with Russia.

Lubomyr Husar left a legacy of two particular virtues that are most relevant for Ukraines political and economic elite. Maybe not only for Ukraine and maybe not only for the elite.

In the world there is a thirst for power and the desire to preserve it, often at all costs. Husar gave up power and surprised all of Ukraine by his retirement in 2011, unprecedented for the head of any of the Eastern Christian Churches of Ukraine.

The cardinal lived humbly, possessed little and disliked luxury. For the liturgy and for glory to God, he followed the rich Byzantine tradition, with the beauty of its celebrations. Otherwise he was a minimalist and disdained doodads.

Cardinal Husar had simple tastes in just about everything. His favorite meal was pork and beans. This modesty and simplicity also prevailed in the manner in which he related with others. He communicated with ease with the everyman, in many different languages, in different countries and continents. His conversation was embellished with pearls of self-effacing humor. Lubomyr knew how to laugh and laugh at himself. This humor reflected his intimacy with God, for humor and mystery are cousins of the sacred and the sacramental. His humor often carried a strong social moral message. Asked how the oligarchs of Ukraine can be reformed, Husar replied: They should attend more funerals.

At the time of his passage to God, we accompany Lubomyr with prayer for the peace and repose of his soul.

Let us pray for His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Cardinal Husars 46-year-old successor, who must bear the burdens of his flock in a time of war and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

Let us pray that the Lord make Lubomyr Husars virtues our own.

Vichnaia pamiat! Everlasting memory!

Bishop Borys Gudziak is the

bishop of the Eparchy of St.Volodymyr in Paris for

Ukrainian Catholics in France, Benelux and Switzerland.

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In Memoriam: Lubomyr Husar, Cardinal and Spiritual Father of Ukraine - National Catholic Register