EU Calls For Release Of 'Illegally Detained' Ukrainians In Crimea, Russia
By RFE/RL
The European Union has called for the release of Ukrainian citizens being held "illegally" in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula whose 2014 seizure by Moscow triggered international condemnation and Western sanctions targeting Russia.
In a January 19 statement, Maja Kocijancic, the spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, cited the case of pro-Kyiv activist Volodymyr Balukh, who was sentenced by a court in Russia-controlled Crimea on January 16 to three years and seven months in prison in a high-profile retrial on charges of weapons and explosives possession.
Kocijancic noted that Balukh was "known to have opposed the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation" and that the EU does not recognize the court's jurisdiction.
"International human rights observers must be granted full, free, and unhindered access to the peninsula, and the European Union expects all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula and in Russia to be released as swiftly as possible," Kocijancic said.
Russia's seizure of Crimea badly damaged Moscow's relations with Kyiv and the West and triggered sanctions by the EU, the United States, and several other countries.
Rights groups say Crimea residents who opposed Russia's takeover have faced discrimination and abuse at the hands of the Moscow-imposed authorities.
The European Parliament in March 2017 called on Russia to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who were in prison or otherwise detained in Russia, Crimea, and parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
In her January 19 statement, Kocijancic also cited the case of Crimean Tatar activist Bekir Degermendzhi, who was detained in November in the Crimean city of Simferopol on what the spokeswoman called "dubious charges" related to alleged extortion.
Degermendzhi, who remains in custody, suffers from asthma, a condition his lawyers say has worsened since his detention.
"In view of the critical medical condition he suffers, it is essential that he is immediately granted access to appropriate medical care," Kocijancic said.
She added that the EU "remains committed to fully implementing its policy of nonrecognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol."
With reporting by the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
'Tragic' Measles Outbreak Kills Eight In Ukraine
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
Ukraine's top health official says eight people have died of complications from measles amid a recent outbreak in the country, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has ranked last in terms of measles-vaccination coverage in Europe.
Acting Health Minister Ulyana Suprun told lawmakers on January 19 that a child who had not been vaccinated against measles died the previous day.
"This is the eighth fatal case since the onset of the outbreak, and this is a tragedy for our society, in which people die from diseases that are preventable by vaccinations," Suprun said.
The Ukrainian Health Ministry on January 16 said it had registered 1,285 cases of measles in the country in the first two weeks of this year -- including 856 children. There were a total of 4,782 measles cases registered in Ukraine in all of 2017.
A total of five people, including three children, died of measles in Ukraine last year.
Marthe Everard, the WHO's representative in Ukraine, said in a statement this week that at least twice as many children were vaccinated against measles in 2017 compared to the previous year.
But she said "the continuing spread of measles in Ukraine demonstrates that more must be done to vaccinate all those who have fallen behind."
With reporting by AFP and Interfax
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Friday, January 19, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading and take care.
OSCE Monitor Killed In Car Accident In Eastern Ukraine
By RFE/RL
A member of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was killed in a road accident in Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region on January 18, the OSCE said.
Vitalie Zara was a citizen of Moldova who had been working for the Luhansk Monitoring Team since July 2015, serving in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk, and Kadiivka, the organization said in a posting on Facebook on January 19.
Zara was traveling in a taxi in Kramatorsk when the car accident took place. He died at the scene, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
"He is remembered as a trusted, hard-working friend and colleague, always with a smile, and will be missed and mourned," the OSCE said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."
Kurt Volker, the special U.S. envoy for Ukraine, also offered "condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Vitalie Zara" on Twitter.
It was the second death of an OSCE monitor in eastern Ukraine in the last year. An American observer was killed last April when the car he was traveling in drove over a land mine.