Ukraine

31 July 2020; MEMO: Ukraine said on Friday that its first round of talks with Iran about the downing of a Ukrainian airliner shortly after takeoff in Tehran in January had been constructive, and that it was determined “to bring Iran to justice”, Reuters reports.

All 176 people on board – including 57 Canadians – were killed when Iranian forces struck the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 jet. Iran said they mistook the passenger plane for a missile at a time of high tensions with the United States.

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine’s law enforcement authorities will consider an issue of a possible extradition of suspected Russian mercenaries, detained in Belarus, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Belarusian security forces detained more than 30 suspected Russian mercenaries near Minsk after receiving information that more than 200 fighters had entered the country to destabilise it ahead of a presidential election.

29 July 2020; MEMO: An Iranian delegation will arrive in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, today to discuss compensation for the families of the Boeing 737 passengers which were killed by an Iranian missile earlier this year.

The Iranian delegation is scheduled to hold talks today and tomorrow concerning the monetary value of the compensation.

KIEV, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the conflict resolution in East Ukraine ahead of the Monday ceasefire during a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian president's press service reported on Sunday.

The leaders discussed the implementation of the Normandy Four summit agreements reached in Paris on Dec. 9, 2019.

LUGANSK, July 26. /TASS/: Ukraine’s Armed Forces have shelled the settlement of Zolotoye-5 in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), damaging a house, an electrical substation and a power transmission line, the LPR military spokesman said on Saturday.

According to Yakov Osadchy, the Ukrainian Armed Forces fired ten mortars of 120mm into the settlement, damaging the roof of a house. Moreover, the local power substation was hit along with the power line, which left 86 households in Zolotoye-5 without electricity.

KYIV (Reuters) - A man armed with a grenade escaped arrest on Thursday and took a senior Ukrainian policeman hostage in the central city of Poltava, a government minister said.

It was the second hostage-taking in Ukraine in three days. On Tuesday, an armed man held 13 people captive on a bus for hours before releasing them.

Police on Thursday were trying to arrest a man suspected of hijacking a vehicle when he took out a grenade and threatened to kill one of the officers, Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko said on Facebook.

KIEV, July 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Ukrainian-U.S. naval exercises, Sea Breeze 2020, started in the Black Sea, Ukrainian Defence Ministry said.

According to the ministry, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the drills will be limited to the maritime phase, and all joint events will be held in the Black Sea without personnel contact.

KYIV (Reuters) - A man who said he was armed with weapons and explosives seized a bus in the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk on Tuesday and took a number of people on board hostage, police said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said “shots were heard, the bus was damaged”. Police blocked off the city centre.

Police identified the man as 44-year-old Maksym Kryvosh, born in Russia.

They said in a statement that he had said he was armed with explosives and weapons. Between 10 and 20 people were onboard the bus, they said.

KIEV, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine does not agree with Iran's claim that the downing of the Ukraine International Airlines passenger plane was due to human error, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Tuesday.

KIEV, July 5. /TASS/: The Ukrainian Navy will receive Neptune anti-ship missile systems next year and deploy them in the Black and Azov seas, Ukrainian Navy Commander Alexei Neizhpapa told the Ukrainian Radio Liberty on Saturday.

"As to the question of when - next year, I think. As to how many, I would say that there will be three divisions of coastal missile battalions: two in the Black Sea and one in the Sea of Azov," he said.

"The main task now is to get the Neptunes as soon as possible and to use them wisely," the official added.