Ukraine, Russia reportedly preparing to exchange dozens of prisoners:
By RFE/RL's Russian Service
Kyiv and Moscow are reportedly preparing a prisoner exchange that would see each side swapping 33 detainees, possibly including Ukrainian sailors captured by Russian forces late last year.
RBK media group, citing unnamed sources in Russia late on August 22, said the swap of 33 Ukrainian citizens held in Russia for 33 Russian citizens held in Ukraine could occur soon.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to RBK that Moscow and Kyiv were negotiating a prisoner exchange, but he did not elaborate.
One of the sources told RBK that Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, who used to be a Ukrainian citizen and is being held in Ukraine on high-treason charges of high, was not included in the exchange because Moscow wants his outright release.
It is also not clear if Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov would be among the individuals set for exchange. Sentsov, who openly protested Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, is serving 20-year prison term in Russia on terrorism charges, which he and his supporters have rejected.
The sources told RBK that Ukrainian Ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova is in Moscow to work on the exchange, while her Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova, is on vacation until August 26.
Also on August 22, Russian lawyer Valentin Rybin told the TASS news agency that his three clients being held in Ukraine -- Russian citizens Maksim Odintsov, Aleksandr Baranov, and Yevgeny Mefyodov -- were going through judicial procedures in preparation for the exchange "in the nearest future."
On August 21, the Kommersant newspaper quoted sources close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as saying that the exchange could take place by the end of August and among the Ukrainians set to be transferred to Kyiv could be 24 Ukrainian sailors detained by Russian forces in November near the Kerch Strait close to Russia-annexed Crimea.
The Moscow-based Memorial human rights center said this week that five Ukrainians held in Russia -- Volodymyr Balukh, Stanislav Klykh, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Pavlo Hryb, and Mykola Karpyuk -- had been transferred from labor camps in several different regions to the Lefortovo detention center in Moscow, possibly in advance of an exchange.
Kyiv has said that Russia illegally holds about 150 Ukrainian nationals on its territory. Ukrainian officials mentioned that figure when talking about the list of prisoners prepared for possible exchange by the two countries' ombudswomen in July.
The list of Russian citizens set for the swap has never been made public.
The United States and European Union have called on Russia to free dozens of Ukrainian citizens imprisoned in Russia, Moscow-annexed Crimea, and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
Russia seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014, after sending in troops and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries. Moscow is also backing separatists in a war against Ukrainian government forces that has killed more than 13,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. (w/RBK, Interfax and Kommersant)
Anti-vaxxers demand schools let their children in:
By RFE/RL
About 200 parents who oppose vaccination have gathered in the center of the Ukrainian capital to demand that their children be allowed to attend school without booster shots.
The rally was held outside the presidential office in Kyiv on August 22, with some protesters holding banners that read "Forced medical intervention is a crime."
Ukraine is experiencing its worst measles outbreak since gaining independence in 1991, having recorded more than 57,000 cases since January. Eighteen deaths have been attributed to the disease so far this year.
This prompted Health Minister Ulana Suprun and Education Minister Lilia Hrynevych to jointly threaten on August 14 not to let unvaccinated children attend school this year.
Authorities and health experts blame ignorance among certain doctors, distrust of vaccines among a segment of the population, as well as earlier shortages of vaccines, for the current outbreak.
Suprun has promoted a vaccine drive in areas most affected by the crisis and at a mid-month briefing she said the ministry had enough vaccines for children and adults.
Ukraine has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe, which could lead to outbreaks of diphtheria and tetanus as well, according to Suprun.
Measles is a preventable but highly contagious disease that can kill a child or leave it disabled for life.
Worldwide cases over the first six months of 2019 are at the highest level since 2006 -- substantially a result of uneven availability and misleading information regarding vaccinations, the World Health Organization said in a report published on August 13.
Measles cases tripled to 365,000 in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period in 2018.
But health experts worldwide have expressed concerns about the so-called "anti-vax" movement spreading on social media and elsewhere that has raised fears among some parents that vaccinations can be harmful for children.
An October 2018 report published by the American Journal of Public health concluded that bots and Russian trolls "amplified" the vaccine debate during the period 2014-2017.
"Whereas bots that spread malware and unsolicited content disseminated antivaccine messages, Russian trolls promoted discord," the report said. "Accounts masquerading as legitimate users create false equivalency, eroding public consensus on vaccination." (w/UNIAN, Interfax, and AFP)
This ends our live blogging for August 22. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Head of president's office sues RFE/RL for libel:
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
KYIV -- The head of Ukraine's presidential office is suing an investigative journalism program of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service for libel, the government says.
A news release on the government's judicial web portal says the lawsuit was filed on August 20 in a Kyiv court to defend Andriy Bohdan's "honor, dignity, and business reputation."
It names Ukraine's state-run public broadcaster UA:PBC and three members of Skhemy (Schemes) as co-defendants: chief editor Natalka Sedletska, and journalists Maksym Savchuk and Valeria Yehoshyna.
Skhemy is a joint project by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and the UA:Pershy television channel, which belongs to UA:PBC.
There is no information on the essence of the claims, but the plaintiff is seeking to "refute false information," according to the judicial web portal.
"At present, neither journalists nor the Radio Liberty editorial office have received the text of the lawsuit," said Inna Kuznetsova, chief editor of RFE/RL's Kyiv bureau. "Once it arrives, we will analyze it with lawyers and voice our position on Andriy Bohdan's claims."
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for September 19 at Kyiv's Shevchenko district court.
Bohdan was formerly billionaire Ihor Kolomoyskiy's personal lawyer.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is linked to Kolomoyskiy through the oligarch's ownership of Ukrainian TV station 1+1, which hosts the former comic and actor's comedy programs and hit sitcom, Servant Of The People, as well as through advisers and other resources.
Bohdan has been the subject of Skhemy investigations in the past.
In April, the program reported that before his appointment as head of the presidential office, Bohdan had secretly visited the Constitutional Court the previous month, according to the court's visitor logbook.
At that time, there was legal debate whether Bohdan could head the presidential office because he was a senior official in former President Viktor Yanukovych's administration. A lustration law in effect bars senior Yanukovych-era officials from posts in future Ukrainian governments.
Another Skhemy investigation found that Bohdan and Zelenskiy flew at least five times together starting in January from Kyiv to Tel Aviv, where Kolomoyskiy was residing at that time in self-imposed exile.
Russia challenges arbitration ruling in favor of Ukraine's Oschadbank:
By RFE/RL
Russia is appealing an international arbitration court's ruling that has awarded Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank $1.3 billion in damages for assets it lost after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, Russian media report.
Interfax news agency quoted a statement by Russia's Justice Ministry as saying on August 22 it had filed the appeal with the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration earlier this week.
It argued that the court's decision in the first instance was based on an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to mutually protect each other's investments made after January 1, 1992.
The statement said the deal should not apply to Oschadbank's Crimean branch, which it said "existed since the Soviet times and was part of Oschadbank even before 1992."
After the initial ruling in November 2018, Moscow stated that the Paris arbitration court had no jurisdiction over the case and refused to recognize it.
Russia has faced a number of lawsuits brought on by Ukrainian billionaires and companies for their lost Crimean assets.
Moscow seized control of Crimea in March 2014 after sending in troops and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries. Russia is also backing separatists in a war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
Naftogaz Group, Ukraine's state-run oil and gas conglomerate, on July 31 filed a lawsuit for $5.2 billion in damages over assets that Russia seized on the Black Sea peninsula.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will hear the case and Naftogaz said in a statement that it expected a ruling "no sooner than the end of 2020." (w/Interfax)