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In Europe's Other 'Divorce,' Ukraine Loses To Russia ... Again Forbes As the world focuses on the "divorce" between the U.K. and E.U., another divorce court hearing for two other former partners was handed down today in London. In Ukraine vs. Russia on Wednesday, a U.K. court said Kiev still owes the Russians a cool $3 ... What Is Putin Planning For Ukraine?OilPrice.com When Russia and Ukraine Battle in Court, the West WinsBloomberg Brazen Murder in Kiev Chills Russia's Dissidents in UkraineForeign Policy (blog) Financial Times -Fox News -Reuters all 100 news articles »

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In Europe's Other 'Divorce,' Ukraine Loses To Russia ... Again - Forbes

Ukrainian NGOs have denounced amendments to the country's anti-corruption legislation, which they say was changed to intimidate activists and journalists.

The bill, signed on Tuesday (28 March) by Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko, obliges any individual and organisation engaged in anti-corruption work to fill out an electronic income declaration.

The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union has said the law is vaguely formulated, as almost all NGOs in the country work against corruption in one way or another.

"The law risks becoming a tool for arbitrary and selective application [against civil society]," the Helsinki group said in a statement.

Oleksandra Drik, head of the board of the Civic Lustration Committee, another NGO, said the amendments "turn Ukraine into Putin's Russia by introducing essentially the same law on 'foreign agents' that destroyed all independent NGOs there".

She said the new law introduced loopholes into Ukraine's anti-corruption regime.

"Only a couple of the amendments apply to NGOs, while most of the other either restore corruption risks already cleaned out or create new ones," she said in a written statement.

NGOs and journalists have been fighting for months to ensure that lawmakers and high-ranking officials have to declare their income in an electronic register.

They have denounced efforts to derail the e-declaration system, which they said came from people close to Poroshenko.

Poroshenko said on Tuesday he had to sign the bill because it also contained provisions that were important for the country's military.

He promised to create a working group to deal with the controversial amendments, but NGOs said the bill should not have been passed in its current form in the first place.

Ambassadors of the G7 support group, who met with Poroshenko on Tuesday, said they were worried by the changes.

The G7 club includes Germany, France, Italy, and the UK, as well as Canada, Japan, and the US.

"They were encouraged by President Poroshenkos promise to convene a working group, including civil society, to look at recent legislative amendments, their statement said.

They emphasised Ukraines need for institutional stability as a prerequisite for further reform. They also vowed to further support Ukraine on its reform path, the ownership of which lies fully in the hands of Ukraine," it added.

EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn likewise said last week that the proposed changes were a roll-back of Ukraine's anti-corruption efforts and should be re-considered.

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Ukraine law on NGOs like 'Putin's Russia' - EUobserver

(JTA) Nazi symbols were spray-painted on a monument to Holocaust victims in Ukraine that was erected near their mass graves.

The letter X was painted on the Star of David emblazoned on the monument near the western city of Ternopil. A swastika was drawn on the Hebrew-language section of the monument and the SS symbol on the part in English.

Police have no suspects in connection with the incident, which occurred earlier this month.

Eduard Dolinsky, the director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, described the vandalism in a post Friday on Facebook.

Elsewhere in Ukraine,building contractors helped theJews of Kovel remove tons of debris made up of headstones from the former graves of Jewishresidentsin the town, which is located about 150 miles north of Ternopil. The headstones were smashed during the time of communist rule to be used for building roads.

Thirteen trucks delivered the debris to the office of Ilya Miretskiy, the head of the Jewish community of the district of Volyn, where Kovel is located. The communitywants topiece together whatever headstones are salvageable.

Another restoration effort was completed recently near Odessa, where the director of a local Holocaust museum, Pavel Kozlenko, led a team of volunteers who reassembled headstones marking the burial place of Holocaust victims. The tombstones had beenknocked down by wind or damaged bycorrosion.

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Holocaust memorial vandalized in western Ukraine - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Ukrainians struggling against continued Russian aggression should be devastated that President Trump invited Czech President Milos Zeman to the White House in April. Zeman is seeking to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin, which is no surprise since the Washington Post called Zeman a virtual mouthpiece for Putin in 2014. Russian propaganda outlets are already making the best out of his upcoming visit. Mr. Zeman is a frequent star of Kremlin outlets that amplifies and supports Putins policies. He even notoriously supported the Russian claim that Kiev is ruled by fascists, but Trump doesnt seem to mind.

Zeman has denied the presence of Russian forces in Ukraine, stating that I take seriously the statement of [Russian] foreign minister Sergei Lavrov that there are no Russian troops [there] and calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine conveniently for the Kremlin a civil war. He even proposed the Finlandization of Ukraine, meaning that Ukrainian defense and foreign policy would be subject to Moscow.

Zeman has opposed European assistance to Ukraine, even advocating for the EU to recognize that Crimea is part of Russia and doubling down on that position in 2016, claiming that the worlds politicians acknowledge that Crimea cannot be given back to Ukraine. Zeman also actively opposes Western sanctions against the Russian Federation, calling them ineffective and stupid, and advocates for them to be lifted immediately.

In 2015, Zeman broke ranks with Western leaders to visit Moscow on Victory day, despite other leaders boycotting and refusing to support a Russian public show of force in the wake of aggression against Ukraine. This was a huge win for the Kremlins PR department.

Zemans visit to the Trump White House is another big win for the Kremlin. Russian propaganda will surely spin their favorite story of Russia-friendly President Trump meeting with another Russia-friendly EU leader to get on board the Russian vision for Ukraine. An anti-Ukraine statement by Zeman immediately after the visit would be enough for Russian outlets to claim that it is a statement also endorsed by Trump.

When Paul Manafort resigned from Trumps inner circle, Ukrainians must have heaved a sigh of relief. (Manafort has many suspicious ties to Ukrainian power players, and was a campaign advisor to President Yanukovych.) But Zemans visit seems to be a very effective backup plan to sow distrust between the US and Ukraine. By inviting the Czech President to the White House, Trump brings Vladimir Putin closer to his dream of controlling Ukraine.

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Trump's Visit With Czech President Helps Putin In Ukraine - Daily Caller

NIZHNIY NOVGOROD, RUSSIA - MAY 05: Denis Voronenkov, former member of the communist faction in Russia's State Duma speaks during an election campaign on May 5, 2016 in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. Voronenkov was shot dead on March 23, 2017 in the centre of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. (Photo by Roman Yarovitsin/Kommersant via Getty Images)Kommersant Photo Kommersant via Getty Images

Ukraine accused Russia of "state terrorism" after a former Russian lawmaker and key witness in a treason case against former leader Viktor Yanukovich was shot dead in broad daylight outside a hotel in central Kiev on Thursday.

Russia called the allegation "absurd".

Former parliamentarian Denis Voronenkov was killed by an assailant who was armed with a pistol and later died in hospital after being shot in the chest and head by Voronenkov's bodyguard, police said. The assailant's identity was not disclosed.

Voronenkov fled to Ukraine last year and was helping the Ukrainian authorities build a treason case against Yanukovich , Ukraine's pro-Russia former president.

Voronenkov had also spoken out against Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014, although he voted for the move at the time.

Russian Police Detain Opposition Leader, Dozens of Protesters

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said the killing "is an act of state terrorism on the part of Russia, which (Voronenkov) was forced to leave for political reasons."

"Voronenkov was one of the main witnesses of Russian aggression against Ukraine and, in particular, the role of Yanukovich regarding the deployment of Russian troops to Ukraine."

Relations between Kiev and Moscow are at an all-time low after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in March 2014 and the subsequent outbreak of separatist fighting in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region, which has killed more than 10,000 people.

Poroshenko said it was "no accident" that Voronenkov was shot on the same day as a warehouse storing tank ammunition was blown up at a Ukrainian military base.

Moscow denied any involvement Voronenkov's murder.

Trump Campaign Chief Focus of Anti-Corruption Probe

"We believe that all the falsehoods that can already be heard about much-hyped Russian involvement are absurd," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying about the killing.

Voronenkov, 45, had been placed on a Russian federal wanted-list in connection with an alleged $5 million property fraud. He came to Ukraine with his wife, opera singer Maria Maksakova, who was also an MP.

Voronenkov was gunned down on his way to meet another former Russian parliamentarian, Ilya Ponomarev, who was the only member of the Duma who voted against the annexation of Crimea.

"There's an obvious theory - I've said that Voronenkov wasn't a crook, but a deadly dangerous investigator for Russian officials," Ponomarev wrote on Facebook.

Ex-Trump Campaign Chair Manafort Worked to Boost Putin Interests

Television footage showed Ponomarev and Maksakova leaving the scene in a car together with Ukraine's General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko.

Lutsenko called the shooting a "cynical murder".

"He had provided investigators of the military prosecutor's office with highly important (witness) testimony for the case. This was a typical show execution of a witness by the Kremlin," Lutsenko said.

Yanukovich fled Ukraine during the 2013-2014 Maidan street protests, which he said were tantamount to a "coup" organised by armed nationalist radicals.

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Ukraine Accuses Russia of 'State Terrorism' After Former MP Shot - Fortune