From the Interfax-Ukraine news agency:
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have opened criminal investigations under two articles of Ukraine's Criminal Code after Russian officers from the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) were found in possession of methodical materials of a military nature, as well as symbols of illegal armed units
"On February 2 of this year, our investigation registered a criminal case opened under Article 333 of the Penal Code of Ukraine – a violation of the rules for transporting commodities subject to state control, as well as under Article 258, Point 3 – abetment to terrorist activity," Ukrainian Security Service chief Vasyl Hrytsak told a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
From RFE/RL's Washington bureau:
U.S. Intelligence Chief: 'Assertive' Russia Will Keep Pressure On Ukraine
U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper says that Russia remains intent on pursuing an "assertive foreign policy" in 2016, including hampering Ukraine's Western aspirations.
Clapper said in prepared testimony to Congress on February 9 that despite reduced violence between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin will continue to maintain "long-term influence over Kyiv" and frustrate "Ukraine’s attempts to integrate with Western institutions."
"Events in Ukraine raised Moscow's perceived stakes for increasing its presence in the region to prevent future regime change in the former Soviet republics and for accelerating a shift to a multipolar world in which Russia is the uncontested regional hegemon in Eurasia," Clapper said.
The United States and the European Union have targeted Russia with several rounds of sanctions following Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea territory in March 2014 and the subsequent war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 9,000 since April 2014.
Clapper added that Russia in 2016 will raise pressure on neighboring states to join the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union, which former Soviet republics Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan have already joined.
According to RFE/RL's sources, a recent debate among European commissioners has sparked alarm among EU members that want to keep up the pressure on Moscow over its interference in Ukraine. Rikard Jozwiak has more:
EU Debate Initiative Sparks Fears Of Concessions To Russia
BRUSSELS -- European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini initiated an internal debate last month with a group of fellow European commissioners on how to improve cooperation with Russia, causing concern among EU members that want to keep up the pressure on Moscow over its interference in Ukraine, sources have told RFE/RL.
The discussion was held in mid-January among European Commission members whose portfolios involve ties with countries outside the 28-nation EU. Its purpose, according to a source with insight into the meeting, was to prepare a "concept where we perhaps can have some cooperation without endangering our position on Russia sanctions."
The meeting came at the start of a year that could bring crucial developments in the standoff between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. Russia wants relief from EU sanctions imposed in response to its interference in Ukraine, and appears to hope Europe's resolve will flag before they come up for renewal in July.
Details of what such cooperation could look like are scarce, but one source said it might entail boosting economic cooperation at a time when the Russian economy is faltering.
The exercise is worrying member states such as Sweden and Poland, which fear that EU unity over Russia's actions in Ukraine -- its seizure of Crimea and support for armed separatists in the Donbas region -- is slowly eroding.
It comes a year after a discussion paper endorsed by Mogherini that suggested a proactive approach toward Russia, just as the separatists were launching an offensive near the crucial government-held city of Mariupol. She has kept a low profile since then on issues involving the EU's eastern neighbors, and it is unclear how much traction the new initiative will pick up.