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Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin gives a press conference to present his new book Platoon. Officers and rebels of Russian Literature in Moscow on February 21, 2017.
Natalia KOLESNIKOVA / AFP

One of Russias best known novelists, Zakhar Prilepin, has sparked a bitter row among top writers by revealing he is now fighting with pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

Prilepin is acclaimed for novels drawing on his experiences of serving with Russian forces in Chechnya and as a member of a banned radical nationalist group, and has won some of Russias top literary awards.

The shaven-headed writer has been a frequent visitor to the rebel east Ukraine since the start of the conflict in April 2014, acting as a consultant to Donetsk rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko.

I think a writer has a right to any position, Prilepin said at a midweek Moscow news conference.

He can stand with a flag saying peace to the world or he can take up arms.

Deserves hatred For Prilepin, the conflict in Ukraine has seen a major change as he has gone from a member of a banned group fiercely opposed to the Kremlin to supporting the official line.

He was part of the outlawed National Bolshevik Party led by fellow writer Eduard Limonov, which used to see its illegal rallies crushed by riot police, but then supported Moscows seizure of Crimea in 2014.

By becoming one of the most high-profile Russians to join east Ukraines fighters, Prilepin has prompted outpourings of bile from top literary figures with more liberal views.

Viktor Pelevin, one of the best known post-Soviet writers, wrote on Facebook: When your books are shit, you have to earn money from terrorism.

Meanwhile Dmitry Bykov, a poet and writer known for an award-winning biography of Boris Pasternak, told Gazeta.ru that Prilepin deserves hatred.

In a comment reported by state television, Vera Polozkova, one of Russias best known young Russian poets, wrote on Facebook that she will open a bottle of the best champagne when they finally blow his head off.

The countrys blogosphere is buzzing. It has divided into factions: those who are for Prilepin and those who are against, wrote Life News website.

Prilepin said the reaction came as as a surprise but he welcomed the fact it had put writers back on the newspaper front pages.

I live in the context of Russian literature. Its much more important to me what Tolstoy and Dostoevsky would say and think about me than what the current European hypocrites will say, he responded.

Deadly risks Prilepin is taking time out from the military campaign to present a new book called Platoon: the officers and rebels of Russian literature which tells the story of famous writers who took up arms including national poet Alexander Pushkin.

Prilepin compared himself with the likes of Leo Tolstoy and Mikhail Lermontov, who fought as soldiers and drew on the experience in their writing.

He even went so far as to say he could see such figures joining him in the rebels self-declared Donetsk Peoples Republic.

While his involvement with the rebels has set off literary skirmishes back in Moscow, Prilepin admits that he faces far more real dangers on the ground in east Ukraine.

In recent months, several rebel battalion commanders have been assassinated in violent attacks inside the rebel-controlled region, killings Prilepin blamed on various sabotage groups.

The rebel leadership says Ukraine was behind the deaths, while Kiev insists they were down to either infighting or score settling by the insurgents puppet masters in Moscow.

I want to live, I like living, he said, while adding: Why hide it or beat about the bush, there definitely are risks.

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Russian writer sparks war of words by joining Ukraine rebels - Guardian

Grey 'blob' takes seat in Ukraine parliament BBC News A Ukrainian MP has brought a stuffed toy into parliament in a stunt intended to shame colleagues who don't show up for work. Independent MP Borislav Bereza arrived with the grey blob-shaped toy on Friday morning and propped it up on a vacant seat. and more »

Link:
Grey 'blob' takes seat in Ukraine parliament - BBC News

Background

Due to ongoing instability and conflict in Ukraine since April 2014, areas primarily in the eastern part of the country have experienced a deteriorating humanitarian situation. Heavy shelling and armed conflict has led to significant displacement of people. Unfortunately, political negotiations conducted have not succeeded so far in ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The humanitarian crisis is becoming extended, insecurity and humanitarian suffering continue to be a fact of life for many in the east. In the planning figures for the revised Humanitarian Response Plan for 2016, 3.1 million people are estimated to be in need, including 1.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs). As the conflict continues and being even intensified in May-July 2016, the political and security agendas continue to prevail over the humanitarian one. The population in the most affected areas, Donetsk and Luhansk, continue to experience limited or no access to humanitarian aid, including basic life-saving services, and face constant security threats challenging humanitarian operations. The operating environment in those two districts remain volatile, with significant implications on the protection of civilians and aid workers, on the assessment of needs and on the delivery of assistance. Shelling affects infrastructure and hampers road access to deliver humanitarian assistance to people remaining in the conflict zone. So far, the following Clusters remain to be activated in the country: Education; Shelter & NFIs; Food Security; Health & Nutrition; Protection, WASH, and Logistics Cluster, officially activated on 18 February 2015.

See more here:
Ukraine - Humanitarian Response Concept of Operations, 23 February 2017 - ReliefWeb

BRUSSELS -- The Netherlands' lower house of parliament has voted for the ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, leaving a vote in the upper house -- the Dutch Senate -- as a final hurdle before the deal, which was signed in March 2014, finally can enter into force.

It has been expected that the House of Representatives would vote in favor of the deal, as the governing coalition enjoys a majority there.

The Senate vote is expected to take place only after the next month's parliamentary elections in the Netherlands on March 15, despite the fact that the composition of the Senate isn't affected by the general election.

The Netherlands is the only EU country that still hasn't ratified the Association Agreement with Ukraine after 61 percent voted against it in a citizen-driven referendum in the country in April 2016.

Although the result was consultative, the Dutch government decided to negotiate a legally binding supplement to the Association Agreement with the other 27 EU member states.

The supplement, which does not change the text of the actual agreement, was adopted at an EU summit in Brussels in December 2016 and outlined, among other things, that the EU-Ukraine deal doesn't give Kyiv the right to EU membership or guarantees of military support from the EU.

Link:
Dutch Lawmakers Vote In Favor Of EU-Ukraine Deal - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

KIEV A Ukrainian lawmaker kidnapped in the southern city of Odessa earlier on Thursday has been found unharmed and his attackers have been detained, the local prosecutor's office said.

Earlier, the head of President Petro Poroshenko's BPP faction, Ihor Hryniv, told parliament that MP Oleksiy Honcharenko had been kidnapped "in broad daylight" in his native Odessa.

"The criminal group has been neutralized. Honcharenko is in a safe place," said Inna Verba, a spokeswoman for the Odessa prosecutor's office.

Thirty-six-year-old Honcharenko used to be in the pro-Russian Party of Regions, but joined Poroshenko's faction following the 'Maidan' uprising in 2014, becoming a vocal opponent of the Russia-backed separatist movement in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking to Reuters by phone, Verba said Honcharenko had been targeted because of his political position, but did not give further details on the alleged motive.

"They wanted to burn his eyes with acid and break his knees so that he suffered. They didn't plan to kill him," she said.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

BEIRUT/ISTANBUL An Islamic State car bomb killed more than 50 people on Friday in a Syrian village held by rebels, a war monitor said, a day after the jihadist group was driven from its last stronghold in the area.

DAKAR Funds from a dollar bank account in the name of the Jammeh Foundation for Peace, a charity founded by Gambia's former president Yahya Jammeh, flowed to Jammeh himself, not to foundation projects, according to bank records and interviews with a former charity official and a former presidential staff member.

MANILA A Philippine senator and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs was in police custody on Friday following her high-profile arrest for drugs offences that she described as a vendetta that would fail to silence her.

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Kidnapped Ukrainian MP found unharmed, attackers detained: prosecutor - Reuters