Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (CLICK TO ENLARGE.)
Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, has video of Kirill Vyshinsky's after his release.
Russian Journalist Vyshinsky Freed Pending Trial In Kyiv
A Ukrainian court ruled on August 28 to release Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky pending trial on charges of high treason. The head of Russia's state-run RIA Novosti's office in Ukraine, Vyshinsky was arrested in May 2018 amid accusations that the news agency was involved in a "hybrid information war" waged by Russia against Ukraine. As he left the court in Kyiv, Vyshinsky again voiced suspicions that he was being prepared for a prisoner exchange, saying such a deal would not make sense because he is innocent.
Russian Journalist Vyshinsky Jailed In Kyiv Released Ahead Of Trial
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
A Kyiv court has ruled that Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, who is in detention in Ukraine on high treason charges, can be released on his own recognizance as he awaits trial.
The Kyiv Court of Appeal handed down the ruling on August 28, saying he must inform the court about any change of residence and that he must refrain from any contact with witnesses in his case.
He will not be required to wear an electronic bracelet, it added.
Vyshinsky, the head of Russia's state-run RIA Novosti's office in Ukraine, was arrested in May 2018 and faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
His arrest came amid accusations in Kyiv that RIA Novosti Ukraine was participating in a "hybrid information war" waged by Russia against Ukraine.
Vyshinsky, who at the moment of his arrest had dual Russian-Ukrainian citizenship, was accused of allegedly receiving financial support from Russia via other media companies registered in Ukraine in order to disguise links between RIA Novosti Ukraine and Russian state media giant Rossia Segodnya.
Weeks after his arrest, Vyshinsky announced that he had given up his Ukrainian citizenship, called his arrest a "political order," and suggested that he was arrested in order to use him in a swap with Moscow for a Ukrainian being held in Russia.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in a statement to the Govorit Moskva radio station that Vyshinsky’s release is "the first step towards justice for the journalist."
Russian ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova told reporters in Moscow that she considers the court's ruling "a just decision without political grounds."
"It gives hope to further objective investigation of the case against the journalist," Moskalkova said.
Tensions between Moscow and Kyiv have risen sharply since Russia seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and threw its support behind separatists in eastern Ukraine, helping start a war that has killed some 13,000 people.
Ukraine's pro-Western government is wary of Russian media outlets, accusing Moscow of distributing disinformation aimed at sowing tension and destabilizing the country. Kyiv has banned more than a dozen Russian television channels since 2014, accusing them of spreading propaganda.
Ukraine Parliament Speaker Signs New Electoral Code Long Pushed For By The West
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
KYIV -- Outgoing Ukrainian parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy on August 27 signed a bill that amends the electoral code to make political party lists open and eliminates single-mandate constituencies in future elections.
Parubiy posted the 556-page electoral code on Twitter. It only requires President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s signature for it to enter into force on December 1, 2023, after the next scheduled vote to parliament.
Changing the electoral code was a key element of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement that was ratified in September 2014.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as the Venice Commission, the EU’s constitutional advisory body, have also stressed the importance of making the changes to strengthen the nation’s democratic institutions.
Before, half the legislative body’s seats were allocated proportionally based on party lists, but the law stipulated that only the first five candidates on the lists had to be shown.
Election watchdogs criticized the nontransparent feature, which enabled dubious candidates to remain unknown and parties to sell seats to the highest bidder seeking a mandate.
Ukrainian legislators enjoy immunity from prosecution.
Similarly, the other half of seats got allocated to single-mandate election districts where vote-buying was rampant, according to Ukrainian election watchdogs Opora and the Committee of Voters of Ukraine.
During its last session, the outgoing parliament voted for the bill in its second and final reading on July 11.
The next scheduled election is in October 2023 and will be held under the previous system unless the electoral code gets amended before that.
Otherwise, elections after that will solely be based on an open-party list proportional system.
On July 11, the president’s representative in parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said the presidential office will first “analyze” the new electoral code before Zelenskiy decides to sign it.