Russian court sentences Crimean Tatar to 12 years in prison:
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
A Russian court has sentenced a Crimean Tatar man to 12 years in prison, drawing swift condemnation from Ukraine for what Kyiv called a politically motivated ruling.
Lawyers for Ruslan Zeytullayev said that in an April 26 verdict, a military court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don convicted their client of establishing a cell of the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir in Crimea.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Russia, which seized control of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has prosecuted many opponents of the takeover -- including members of the Muslim Crimean Tatar community -- on what rights groups say are false charges.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maryana Betsa said the ruling was politically motivated and urged other countries to take Moscow to task over Zeytellayev's trial.
"The so-called ruling is based on fabricated accusations. We demand the release of Zeytullayev," Betsa said on Twitter. "We will [call on] our partners to increase diplomatic pressure on the Russian Federation."
The 12-year sentence came in a retrial that was launched after Russian prosecutors contended that the initial sentence was too lenient.
In September, the same court had convicted Zeytullayev and three other Crimean Tatars of being members of Hizb ut-Tahrir and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from five to seven years.
Prosecutors said at the time that Zeytullayev deserved harsher punishment for being "a founder" of a Hizb ut-Tahrir cell.
Russia has been heavily criticized by international rights groups and Western governments for its treatment of the members of the indigenous Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar minority since it took over the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014.
Rights activists say Crimean Tatars have been arrested, abducted, and in some cases killed in a campaign to punish the group for largely opposing the takeover and neutralize it as a potential political and social force.
Crimean Tatar self-government organizations have been declared illegal.
Russia seized control of Crimea after sending in troops and staging a referendum considered illegitimate by the United States and a total of 100 UN member states.
The United States, European Union, and other countries imposed sanctions on Russia over the takeover of Crimea and say they will not be lifted until it is returned to Kyiv's control.
Poroshenko compares crisis in east with Chernobyl disaster:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has compared the April 26, 1986, Chernobyl nuclear disaster with the ongoing crisis in Ukraine's east, adding that "Russia is conducting an undeclared war against his country."
Speaking at Chernobyl nuclear plant site on April 26, where he and his Belarusian counterpart Alyaksandr Lukashenka commemorated victims of the nuclear disaster on its 31st anniversary, Poroshenko said:
"We, Ukrainians, are now fighting for our independence, for sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country, for liberation of Donbas and Crimea. We again have buried thousands of people. Again we have hundreds of thousands of displaced people.... I am confident, all together we will defeat that demon as well."
Poroshenko also said he was confident that Belarus cannot be dragged into a conflict against Ukraine.
"Nobody will make Ukraine and Belarus quarrel. I have received a firm assurance on that from the Belarusian president," Poroshenko said.
Lukashenka assured Poroshenko that Minsk will do everything for "establishing peace" in Ukraine.
"No matter whether somebody likes it or not, we are relatives. We are neighbors, brothers, and therefore be sure, Belarusians are and will always be your reliable friends," Lukashenka said. (BelTA, UNIAN)
EU ambassadors approve visa liberalization for Ukraine:
By Rikard Jozwiak
BRUSSELS -- EU ambassadors have approved visa liberalization for Ukraine, a key step toward closer ties and visa-free travel to the EU for Ukrainians.
EU ministers are now set to rubber-stamp the decision on May 11, and the signing ceremony for the deal is expected to take place in Strasbourg on May 17.
EU diplomats have told RFE/RL they hope the visa-free regime will enter into force in mid-June.
Analysts say Russia's seizure of Crimea and involvement in a war against government forces in eastern Ukraine have only increased many Ukrainians' desire for closer ties with the EU.
Many in the country of 44 million have closely followed the process since December 2015, when the European Commission recommended to EU member states and the European Parliament that Ukraine be granted visa liberalization.
The decision will apply to all Ukrainian citizens who have biometric passports. They will be able to enter all EU member states apart from Ireland and the United Kingdom for up to 90 days during any 180-day period.
Visa-free EU travel began on March 28 for citizens of Georgia, another former Soviet republic that is under pressure from Russia.