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A high-ranking retired Ukrainian intelligence officer affiliated with the countrys Security Service wrote in a Facebook post last week that he wants to destroy all the Jews in Ukraine.

General Vasily Vovk still holds a senior reserve rank with the Security Service of Ukraine, the service which succeeded the KGB in the country.

He reportedly wrote in a Facebook post last week that Jews arent Ukrainians and I will destroy you along with [Jewish lawmaker Vadim] Rabinovych. Im telling you one more time go to hell, zhidi [kikes], the Ukrainian people have had it to here with you.

Ukraine must be governed by Ukrainians, the post allegedly said, before it was deleted from Facebook, according to a report published by the British Jewish Chronicle.

Asked for a response, the Ukraine Embassy in Tel Aviv said in a written statement sent to the JC that it regrets about the fact that General of the Security Service of Ukraine left a highly provocative post of anti-Semitic character on his Facebook page.

The Embassy of Ukraine condemns all kinds of manifestations of antisemitism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance, and is convinced that there should be no place for them in modern Ukrainian society, the Embassy spokesperson wrote.

However, there was no indication as to whether there would be a followup with disciplinary action of any kind.

On Friday, a Jewish man was attacked by an ax-wielding neighbor in the Ukraine city of Dnipro (formerly Dnepropetrovsk). The young man, age 26, was badly injured and rushed to the hospital, where he underwent surgery.

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Ukrainian Intelligence Officer: 'Go To Hell, Kikes' - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

Updated May 14, 2017 11:07:33

A Ukrainian media personality notorious for ambushing celebrities like Kim Kardashian has streaked at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine while wearing an Australian flag.

With Isaiah Firebrace coming in 9th place, and Portugal taking the Eurovision crown, it is possible Australia will be better remembered this year for the presence of its national flag on the back of a naked man.

During reigning winner Jamala's performance, a man draped in an Australian flag invaded the stage and pulled down his pants to expose his bottom on live TV.

It was initially thought the streaker was an Australian but it was later confirmed the man was Vitalii Sediuk, a self-described prankster known for accosting celebrities on red carpets.

Sediuk posted photos of himself wearing the Australian flag in an Instagram story.

He has a long list of celebrity victims including Kim Kardashian, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith and supermodel Gigi Hadid.

At the 2013 Grammy Awards, Sekuik stormed the stage and accepted an award on Adele's behalf.

Sekuik was promptly removed from the Eurovision stage by security and the show's three presenters made no mention of the incident.

But it did not go unnoticed on Twitter, where viewers praised it as the best part of the show.

Topics: events, world, ukraine

First posted May 14, 2017 10:32:54

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Ukrainian prankster Vitalii Sediuk moons Eurovision wearing Australian flag - ABC Online

Tensions Between Russia And Ukraine Blend Into Eurovision Contest NPR The finals of the Eurovision Song Contest are being held on Saturday in Kiev. This year's event is in Ukraine, but tensions with neighboring Russia threaten to overshadow the festivities. Facebook; Twitter. Google+. Email ...

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Tensions Between Russia And Ukraine Blend Into Eurovision Contest - NPR

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrives at the White House ahead of Oval Office talks with President Donald Trump, a rare honor bestowed on a non-head of government. Newslook

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Trump, right, talks to Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin as Vice President Pence listens at the Oval Office in the White House, May 10, 2017. Trump said the U.S. supports Ukraine, Klimkin told USA TODAY.(Photo: Embassy of Ukraine)

WASHINGTON Ukraine's foreign minister said he receivedassurances from President Trump and Vice President Pence of support from the United States, as Russia expands its influence in separatist-held eastern Ukraine.

In an interview with USA TODAY, Pavlo Klimkin said, "Without U.S. engagement, it's not possible to sort this out, because Russia has respect for the United States."

Klimkins visit to the White House Wednesday was overshadowed by Trumps meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Trump expressed his desire to work with Ukraine to peacefully resolve the conflict, theWhite House said in a statement.Pence emphasized that the negotiated cease-fire agreements remain the most viable path towardpeace."

"It was very important to hear," Klimkin said.Russia'sactions in eastern Ukraine are makingpeace harder to achieve, headded.

For example, Russian rubles must now be used as currency in the Donbas region, instead of Ukrainian hryvnas,for all transactions, including payingemployees ofUkrainian companies. That mandate, in place since March 1, required transferringlarge amounts of currency from Russia, which Klimkin said could not have happened without Russian approval and involvement.

In addition,Russian President Vladimir Putinissued a decree Feb. 18 recognizingpassports and other documents issued by the self-described Peoples Republic of Donetsk and Peoples Republic of Luhansk.

On March 17, separatist authoritiesseized private and Ukrainian state-owned factories and mines, he said. One result is that owners in Ukraine have no legal way to communicate with Ukrainian companies in the Donbas, Klimkin said. Commodities, such as coal and iron ore produced in the separatist-held areas, are being illegally transferred and sold in Russia, he said.

And, Klimkin said, Russian state-owned mediaand the separatist-held region also started talking about the nation of Donbas, which never existed.

Its not a random sequence of actions, hesaid. Its an intentional sequence to bring the occupied Donbas far, far away from Ukraine.

Read more:

Russia downplays President Trump's firing of FBI Director Comey

Eastern Ukraine city in crosshairs of renewed fighting

At least 12 Ukrainian soldiers killed in disputed east

The fighting in eastern Ukraine, which started after demonstrators ousted a pro-Russian government in February 2014, has escalated in recent months, despite cease-fire agreements negotiated with Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany in Minsk, Belarus. While Russia denies arming the separatists, Ukrainian, U.S. and other Western authorities have documented Russian military support and direct involvement in the conflict that has resulted in10,000 Ukrainian deaths.

The U.S. and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine. Secretary of State Rex Tillersontold Lavrov on Wednesday that U.S. sanctions won't be lifted until Russia reverses its actions.

The Minsk agreement requires the withdrawal of heavy weapons and the restoration of Ukrainian law in the separatist-held regions. The deal also calls for Ukraine to establisha "special status" for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that includes self-governance andcross-border cooperation with Russia. While fighting continues, that special status provision will not be accepted or adopted by Ukraine,according to Oksana Syroid, deputy speaker of the Ukrainian parliament.

Ukrainians"will not allow it," Syroid said last week in Washington. "It's against human dignity."

Klimkin said Russia maintains 6,000 military troops,2,000 tanks and other heavy weapons in the separatist-held area of Ukraine. Unless the recent changes are reversed, he warned that the situation there will become permanent.

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'US supports Ukraine' against Russia, Trump tells foreign minister - USA TODAY

KIEV Ukraine said on Thursday a visit to Russian-annexed Crimea by Bulgaria's Eurovision song contest entrant was apparently not illegal, avoiding a row that might have led to his disqualification and tainted the popular competition with fresh political controversy.

A video widely shared on social networks and in Ukrainian media appears to show Bulgarian Kristian Kostov singing at a concert on Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula in June 2014, three months after it was seized by Russia.

Ukraine has already barred Russia's contestant from entering the country because she had performed in Crimea without permission from Kiev after the annexation.

Forty-two countries are competing this year in Eurovision, an annual pageant of the colorful, the camp and the cheesy that in recent years has increasingly been drawn into politics. Ukraine's Jamala won last year with a song about war-time deportations of Crimean Tatars by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Kostov, who at 17 is the youngest competitor this year, was taking part in the second semi-final on Thursday with his song 'Beautiful Mess.' The final takes place in Kiev on Saturday in front of a television audience of millions.

Ukraine's border service said it and other state security agencies had not known about any visit by Kostov to Crimea when he entered Ukraine to take part in the competition. "We will study the information," spokesman Oleh Slobodyan said.

In a later statement, the border service said: "We do not currently have information from our sources or any other law enforcement agencies that he may have visited the occupied peninsula contrary to the legislation of this country."

It said Kostov would not have broken Ukrainian law if he visited Crimea as a minor and before legislation came into force banning foreigners from visiting the annexed territory without permission from Ukrainian authorities.

In a statement, the BulgarianEurovision delegation confirmed that Kostov had visited Crimea "for just a few hours" when he was 14 years old as part of a children's musical group.

There was no immediate comment from Eurovision organisers.

The annexation of Crimea contributed to a collapse in relations between Russia and Ukraine in 2014.

Russian singer Dima Bilan, who won Eurovision in 2008, urged his 1.9 million Instagram followers on Thursday to vote for Kostov. "He represents Bulgaria, but he is our hero!" he said in a post.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Additional reporting by Margaryta Chornokondratenko; Tsvetelia Tsolova in Sofia; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

LOS ANGELES Fringed capes, pleated skirts and bolero hats peppered the runway at the Dior Cruise 2018 collection on Thursday as the luxury Parisian label spun its own twist on music festival fashion.

MEXICO CITY Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto wrote to Leonardo DiCaprio on Twitter on Thursday in a bid to reassure the Hollywood actor his government was taking steps to protect a rare porpoise in Mexican waters teetering on the brink of extinction.

GHENT, Belgium Belgian conductor Philippe Herreweghe, who turned 70 this month, says he has no intention of retiring as he continues to discover new nuances in the music of the composer who marked his career like no other: Johan Sebastian Bach.

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Ukraine says Crimea visit by Bulgaria's Eurovision singer not illegal - Reuters