Russia Says Reporter's Expulsion From Ukraine 'Unacceptable'
The Kremlin has denounced as "completely unacceptable" the actions of Ukrainian authorities toward a reporter with Russia’s Channel One television.
Ukraine deported Aleksandra Cherepnina on July 1 for allegedly running "destructive" stories about Ukraine.
The State Security Service (SBU) said on July 2 it decided to "block the destructive actions” of Cherepnina and bar her from reentering the country for three years.
In a report about the deportation aired by Channel One, Cherepnina described being deprived by the SBU of a chance to call anyone after being detained.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine had “long turned into a place where it is both hard and dangerous for reporters to work."
And Russia’s Investigative Committee announced it had launched an "illegal deprivation of liberty" probe into the incident.
Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said Ukrainian authorities “will never understand that you cannot conceal the truth by intimidating and killing reporters."
Based on reporting by AFP and TASS
Russia Dissatisfied With MH17 Report By Dutch Safety Agency
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency says a draft Dutch report into the causes of last year's crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine "raises more questions than it gives answers."
Russian news agencies quoted Rosaviatsiya deputy chief Oleg Storchevoi as saying on July 2 that the agency has “a range of weighty remarks regarding the document, stated arguments, and simply technical data."
Storchevoi expressed hope that Rosaviatsiya’s comments and questions will be reflected and answered in the final report, to be released in October.
The Dutch Safety Board has made the draft available to representatives of Australia, Britain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States as controversy continues over who shot down the plane in July 2014, killing all 298 people aboard.
Ukraine and the West suspect it was destroyed by a Russian surface-to-air missile fired by Russian forces or separatists fighting in the area.
Russia has claimed it was downed by a Ukrainian fighter jet.
Based on reporting by AP, TASS, and Interfax
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
IMF reaches agreement with Ukraine on policies needed for disbursement
WASHINGTON, July 2 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it had reached a staff-level agreement with Ukraine on the policies needed for the global lender to disburse $1.7 billion under a loan program.
The IMF said in a statement the agreement is subject to approval by its management and executive board. (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Bill Trott)
Report Warns EU Of Corruption Risk In Five Eastern European Countries
A new report warns that a lack of progress fighting corruption in five Eastern European countries hampers democratic progress and undermines the prospect of greater economic and political cooperation with the European Union.
The report, released on July 2 by Transparency International, assesses dozens of institutions responsible for preventing and fighting corruption in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
These countries are set to receive at least $16.6 billion in assistance from the EU over the coming five years, it says, and the risk of this money going into corrupt pockets is “unacceptably high.”
While the five countries have adopted anticorruption laws, the Berlin-based group says, political and business elites exert undue influence over the judiciary and legislature, allowing corruption to go unchecked.
“Politically motivated prosecutions and government interference to circumvent judicial processes are especially problematic in Ukraine and Moldova,” the report says.
It adds that the region has also seen a growing trend of restrictions on nonstate watchdogs such as media and civil society with “intimidation, harassment, persecution and detainment of civic activists and journalists” in Armenia and, in particular, in Azerbaijan.