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Ukrainians struggling against continued Russian aggression should be devastated that President Trump invited Czech President Milos Zeman to the White House in April. Zeman is seeking to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin, which is no surprise since the Washington Post called Zeman a virtual mouthpiece for Putin in 2014. Russian propaganda outlets are already making the best out of his upcoming visit. Mr. Zeman is a frequent star of Kremlin outlets that amplifies and supports Putins policies. He even notoriously supported the Russian claim that Kiev is ruled by fascists, but Trump doesnt seem to mind.

Zeman has denied the presence of Russian forces in Ukraine, stating that I take seriously the statement of [Russian] foreign minister Sergei Lavrov that there are no Russian troops [there] and calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine conveniently for the Kremlin a civil war. He even proposed the Finlandization of Ukraine, meaning that Ukrainian defense and foreign policy would be subject to Moscow.

Zeman has opposed European assistance to Ukraine, even advocating for the EU to recognize that Crimea is part of Russia and doubling down on that position in 2016, claiming that the worlds politicians acknowledge that Crimea cannot be given back to Ukraine. Zeman also actively opposes Western sanctions against the Russian Federation, calling them ineffective and stupid, and advocates for them to be lifted immediately.

In 2015, Zeman broke ranks with Western leaders to visit Moscow on Victory day, despite other leaders boycotting and refusing to support a Russian public show of force in the wake of aggression against Ukraine. This was a huge win for the Kremlins PR department.

Zemans visit to the Trump White House is another big win for the Kremlin. Russian propaganda will surely spin their favorite story of Russia-friendly President Trump meeting with another Russia-friendly EU leader to get on board the Russian vision for Ukraine. An anti-Ukraine statement by Zeman immediately after the visit would be enough for Russian outlets to claim that it is a statement also endorsed by Trump.

When Paul Manafort resigned from Trumps inner circle, Ukrainians must have heaved a sigh of relief. (Manafort has many suspicious ties to Ukrainian power players, and was a campaign advisor to President Yanukovych.) But Zemans visit seems to be a very effective backup plan to sow distrust between the US and Ukraine. By inviting the Czech President to the White House, Trump brings Vladimir Putin closer to his dream of controlling Ukraine.

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Trump's Visit With Czech President Helps Putin In Ukraine - Daily Caller

The slogan Celebrate diversity has been chosen as the strapline for this years Eurovision Song Contest which will be held in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv this May, writes Olexandr Vilkul, Co-Chairman of the Opposition Block in Ukraine

Celebrate diversity is an attractive soundbite, but the reality on the ground in Ukraine presents a different picture. There are plenty of examples of intolerance, exclusion and bigotry to illustrate the problems that Ukraine is struggling to deal with.

The Author, Olexandr Vilkul, is Co-chairman of the Opposition Block political party in the Parliament of Ukraine

Throughout the European Union there has been a dangerous surge of far-right populism, and Ukraine is no exception. The advance of the Far Right In Ukraine should be of concern to our Western partners who want to protect liberalism and respect for European democratic values, and keep my country on its path towards European values

In Ukraine today you can see militant radical groups (with armed units under their control) openly on the street displaying Nazi symbols in their political signs, boasting their radical nationalist and even racist agenda while enjoying the patronage of influential ministers in the government.

These regularly hold parades in Kyiv and other cities, and they threaten the government with military retaliation if the administration pursues the implementation of the Minsk agreements to settle the conflict in Donbass.

The Far Right groups are now forming political alliances with a view to catapulting them into the parliament at the next elections. What makes these manifestations of nationalism on the march dangerous is the will of the military hawks in government to keep the conflict in Donbass smouldering. The ongoing war creates a smokescreen to camouflage and obfuscate the ongoing malpractices of corruption, the abuse of office and the inefficient spending of funds provided by the IMF and other international donors.

In what country of the European Union could a speaker of parliament publicly deny millions of citizens in certain regions the right to have a say in a national debate for the simple reason that they do not represent the indigenous population but are a product of Soviet migration policy?

That is the case today in Ukraine where speaker Andriy Parubiy without hesitation ignored the will of more than 80% of the inhabitants of my native Dnipropetrovsk, who vocally objected to renaming the city. No one in the ruling coalition cared for the will of the people whom they have downgraded to second class citizens, claiming that they lack the patriotic sentiments required from real Ukrainians.

For the same reasons they try to deprive me and my colleagues from the opposition political parties of the right to speak Russian in parliament the language native to the vast majority of voters in my constituency. By doing so they try to break link between MPs and voters and deny our manifesto commitment to protect Russian and the other languages of ethnic minorities.

This behaviour also contradicts Ukraines own constitution and our obligations as a signatory to the European Charter for regional and minority languages, and does nothing to heal the social rifts that have been created by the war in Ukraines Eastern provinces. The ruling coalition has already introduced a 70% quota for Ukrainian language content for radio and is a short step away from establishing a 75% quota for TV. I wonder how they plan to broadcast the multilingual Eurovision contest under such rules. This is no way to celebrate cultural and linguistic diversity.

It is time the European Union and our other Western partners stopped ignoring the grim reality of far right populism overtaking mainstream politics in Ukraine. Consistent support of tolerance, democracy and minority rights have traditionally illustrated European policies towards the EUs Eastern Neighbourhood. The current government pays lip service to European ideals; but a commitment to European values is more than just a public relations slogan. Kyivs rulers need to be reminded to walk the talk.

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The threat of far-right populism in #Ukraine - EU Reporter

By Staff The Associated Press

Ukrainian officials say one person is dead and around 20,000 people have been evacuated in the Kharkiv region near the border with Russia after a massive fire at a military ammunition depot.

READ MORE: Canada extends Ukraine mission to 2019

Ukraines chief military prosecutor, Anatolii Matios, said on Facebook that the blaze, which erupted early Thursday at the depot in Balaklia, was sparked by an act of sabotage.

The body of the 66-year old woman was found in a house that had been hit by a shell in a town near the depot in Balaklia, Ukraines State Emergency Service minister Mykola Chechetkin told lawmakers Friday.

Local reports also said a 54-year-old woman was injured after being struck in the head with shrapnel

Ukraines Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has flown to the area to monitor the blaze, which is still continuing, but its intensity had lessened.

Ukrainian officials have accused Russian or separatist saboteurs of causing the fire with the aid of a drone. Separatists deny the claim and say it likely was caused by what they call Ukrainian military incompetence.

READ MORE: Ukraine takes Russia to UN court for supporting terrorism

The arsenal holds large-calibre artillery rounds and is one of Ukraines largest.

Kharkiv lies just north of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where Ukrainian troops have been fighting Russia-backed separatists. The conflict has killed more than 9,800 since April 2014.

-With files from Global News.

2017The Associated Press

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One dead after explosion at Ukraine ammunition depot forces evacuation of 20000 people - Globalnews.ca

Denis Voronenkov, who'd been a Communist member of Russia's lower legislative house before he left, was fatally shot outside a hotel in broad daylight, officials said.

Voronenkov becomes the latest in a string of Russian critics of President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government who were killed or injured in mysterious circumstances.

The suspect in his death died in the hospital after a shootout with Voronenkov's bodyguard.

Poroshenko's accusation drew a sharp rebuke from Moscow. Any claims that Russia is connected to the killing are "absurd," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian state-run TASS news agency.

Details about the shooting weren't immediately released. CNN video shows investigators standing over the bloodied body of Voronenkov, lying face-up on a Kiev sidewalk near the Premier Palace hotel.

The suspect was wounded and taken to a hospital where he later died, Kiev police Chief Andriy Krischenko said.

Details about the suspect's identity and who injured him weren't available. No motive for the attack was immediately known.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko said Voronenkov had given "extremely important testimony" to Ukraine's military prosecutors.

Voronenkov's killing was "a demonstrative execution of a witness," Lutsenko said.

Voronenkov and his wife, former Russian lawmaker Maria Maksakova, sharply criticized Putin after they left Russia for Ukraine in October.

Voronenkov also alleged that although he was recorded as having voted for the annexation in Russia's Duma, the vote was cast against his will. He was not at parliament that day, and another legislator used Voronenkov's card to vote for him, he told Radio Free Europe.

The day after that interview, Peskov, Putin's spokesman, denied Voronenkov's claim.

Voronenkov said he thought his criticisms led Russian authorities to charge him in absentia with fraud in February, Radio Free Europe reported. He called the charges "fake" and "political," the report said.

Voronenkov said he'd become a Ukrainian citizen. While he was a Communist Party member, his wife had belonged to the ruling United Russia party.

Yanukovych was Ukraine's President when, in 2013, he suspended talks on what was to be a landmark political and trade deal with the European Union. Russia had opposed Ukraine forming closer ties with the European Union.

Tens of thousands of pro-Western protesters rallied in Kiev against Yanukovych's decision, and in February 2014, a gunfight between protesters and police left dozens dead. Yanukovych soon fled, eventually for Russia, as his guards abandoned the presidential compound.

Russia's parliament signed off on Putin's request to send military forces into Crimea the next month. An uprising by pro-Russian rebels in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk ensued, a conflict that has left thousands of people dead and injured.

"I told (prosecutors) some details of what was going on. And I will give testimony in open court in the course of judicial inquiry held in Ukraine," Voronenkov told Radio Free Europe.

Voronenkov is one of several Kremlin critics to die or be injured in mysterious circumstances.

Five suspects have been on trial in Moscow since October, with one accused of accepting cash to kill him. All have pleaded not guilty.

Putin blamed extremists and protesters who he said were trying to stir internal strife in Russia. But people close to Nemtsov have expressed concern that he was killed because of his opposition to the government.

It was the second time in two years Kara-Murza fell into a coma after a suspected poisoning.

In 2013, Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky was found dead inside his house in Britain with a noose around his neck. His falling-out with the Russian government had left him self-exiled in the United Kingdom.

A coroner's officer said it couldn't say whether Berezovsky killed himself. That year, Putin said he could not rule out that foreign secret services had a role in Berezovsky's death, but he added that there was no evidence of this.

In July 2009, human rights activist Natalya Estemirova was kidnapped outside her home in the Russian republic of Chechnya and found shot to death in a neighboring republic the same day. She had spent years investigating human rights abuses in Chechnya.

The head of the group Estemirova worked for, Memorial, accused the Kremlin-backed Chechen leadership of ordering her killing. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov denied involvement in her death, calling it a "monstrous crime" that was carried out to discredit his government.

In 2006, Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist critical of Russia's war in Chechnya, was gunned down at the entrance to her Moscow apartment.

The Kremlin has staunchly denied accusations that it or its agents are targeting political opponents or had anything to do with the deaths.

Journalist Victoria Butenko reported from Ukraine, and CNN's Jason Hanna wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Antonia Mortensen, Nick Thompson, Alanne Orjoux, Holly Yan and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

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Putin critic Denis Voronenkov dead: Ukraine's leader calls ...

President of Ukraine Petro Poroschenko on March 02, 2017 in Kiev, Ukraine. Gabriel is on a two-day trip to conduct talks with government representatives.Thomas TrutschelPhotothek via Getty Images

In Ukraine, things have taken another turn for the worse. In January, Ukrainian army veterans began an unofficial blockade of rail traffic into the country's breakaway eastern provinces to protest their government's willingness to do business with the pro-Russian separatists holding power there. On March 15, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, anxious to regain control of the situation and to keep the confidence of his supporters, made the blockade official. Separatists remain defiant. Russia is reportedly recognizing travel documents from the breakaway provinces for entry into Russia, and we're getting closer to the moment when Moscow will move to formalize trade and economic links with the separatist territories.

In other words, the Ukrainian stalemate has deepened. Ukraine has fallen behind Western neighbors like Poland and Hungary over the past 25 years. A higher standard of living depends on closer engagement with Europe, but peace and security still demand stable relations with Moscow. This puts Poroshenko in a bind. The conflict with Russia has killed about 10,000 people, and Poroshenko knows that many Ukrainians would denounce any move to shift the rest of the country toward Europe by simply accepting the independence of Ukraine's breakaway provinces as a surrender to Russia.

Russia wants to ensure that Ukraine remains within its orbit, because the loss of Ukraine to the West would be the final indignity in a chain of post--Cold War humiliations. Still, Russia can't invade the rest of Ukraine, because major Russian losses might well undermine Russian President Vladimir Putin's support at home. The cost of occupying Ukraine, a nation of about 42 million people, is also far beyond Russia's means. Instead, Putin has kept Ukraine unstable to force its government to give the breakaway provinces--and, by extension, the Kremlin--a veto over Ukraine's national foreign and trade policies.

Many elected Western officials want to defend Ukraine from Russian manipulation, but they don't want to bear the costs of defending a country their citizens don't care about.

The stalemate is also becoming more expensive for both Russia and Ukraine. The blockade could shave another 1.3 percentage points off Ukraine's beleaguered economy. On the Russian side, poor prospects for oil prices will force the Kremlin to think hard about the wisdom of investing large sums in Ukraine's breakaway provinces for the indefinite future.

Something's got to give, but it has never been less clear what that might be.

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Kiev and the Kremlin Face Narrowing Options In Ukraine - TIME