According to our Ukrainian Service, this is an up-to-date, complete list of all the Yanukovych allies who have died under mysterious circumstances this year.
1. Mykola Serhiyenko (Kyiv, former first deputy chief of Ukr Railways)
January 26, 2015 (apparent suicide, shot with rifle)
2. Oleksiy Kolesnik (former head of Kharkiv regional govt)
January 29, 2015 (apparent suicide, hanging)
3. Serhiy Valter (former Melitopol mayor)
February 25, 2015 (apparent suicide, hanging)
4. Oleksandr Bordyuh (Melitopol deputy police chief)
February 26, 2015 (apparent suicide, few details)
5. Mykhaylo Chechetov (former deputy chair of Party of Regions)
February 28, 2015 (jumped or fell from 17th-story balcony)
6. Stanislav Melnyk (Donetsk, Akhmetov adviser)
March 9, 2015 (apparent suicide, shot with rifle)
7. Oleksandr Peklushenko (former Zaporizhzhya governor)
March 12, 2015 (apparent suicide, shot in neck)
8. Sergei Melnychuk (Odesa, prosecutor)
March 22, 2015 (thrown from 9th-story balcony in apparent attempt to stage suicide)
9. Oleh Kalashnikov (Anti-Maidan organizer)
April 15, 2015 (possible suicide, shot in Kyiv home)
"Spate," he obviously means:
The Constitutional Court has postponed hearings on lustration law:
Ukraine's Constitutional Court has postponed hearings on a law aimed at sacking civil servants who have been linked to corruption under the rule of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych's government.
The head of the Constitutional Court, Yuriy Baulin, told reporters in Kyiv on April 16 that the hearings would take place after revisions and amendments are made to the law on lustration.
Baulin said dates for the hearings would be announced after justices study the conclusions of legal experts, including the Venice Commission -- an advisory body of the Council of Europe.
The hearings had been scheduled to begin on April 16.
The lustration law, adopted by Ukraine's parliament in September, would subject about one million civil servants to screening -- including some members of the Constitutional Court.
Ukraine's Supreme Court and 47 lawmakers referred the legislation to the Constitutional Court, urging it to rule on whether it violates Ukraine's constitution.
The OSCE representative on media freedom has condemned the killing today:
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned the murder of Oles Buzina, a Ukrainian journalist, writer and former editor of the newspaper Segodnya.
“This appalling act is yet another reminder about the dangers associated with journalism as a profession. This killing must be immediately and fully investigated by the competent authorities,” Mijatović said. “My sincere condolences go out to Buzina’s family and colleagues.”
According to reports, on 16 April, Buzina was shot and killed by assailants close to his home in Kyiv. He was known for his critical views.
“I reiterate my call on the authorities to allocate all necessary resources to investigate all attacks on journalists,” Mijatović said. “There must be no impunity for the perpetrators and the masterminds behind any violence against members of the media.”
Mijatović also noted with regret reports about another recent killing of a journalist in Ukraine. Sergei Sukhobok, co-founder of several online news portals and contributor to several Ukrainian media outlets, was killed on 13 April in Kyiv. The killing is being investigated by the authorities.