UA
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DESale of the top positions in the government, the Chornobyl fires, the detention of a Russian spy in Kyiv, and the exchange of prisoners have been the main topics of European media concerning Ukraine this week.
Two weeks after the scandal with the recordings, on which probably one can hear the voice of Andrii Ermak’s brother, the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung drew the attention of its readers to this issue. In the article “Ukraine: well-paid positions“, the author writes that from August to October 2019 brother of Andrii Ermak, who is the “second most powerful man” in Ukraine, Denis Ermak held talks with interested people about “selling top positions in the railways, in customs and tax services or the Ministry of Infrastructure, and probably the appointment of the governor of the Ternopil region for two to three million dollars. ”
The Swiss newspaper Blick in its article “Prisoners Swap in Eastern Ukraine with the Mediation of Switzerland” boasted the involvement of their government in this important event. Swiss Ambassador Heidi Grau, who is a Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in Ukraine and in the trilateral contact group, negotiated the swap.
German and Dutch media have written about the Chornobyl fires. The German newspaper Stern has reported that the organization “Doctors of the World for the prevention of nuclear war” is concerned about the situation with fires. Thus, the co-chair of the organization, Alex Rosen, called the reaction of the Ukrainian authorities “wishful thinking“. The organization assumes that a significant number of radioisotopes have been “mobilized”. Inhalation particles can lead to cancer. “As in 1986, the fate of the population depends on the direction of the wind,” the representative of the organization said. According to measurements, the German Embassy in Kyiv said there was no alarm.
Alex Rosen, called the reaction of the Ukrainian authorities on Chornobyl fires “wishful thinking“
The Bundestag Committee on Environmental Protection, Sylvia Kotting-Uhl, called on the German government to help Ukraine. “High radioactive measurements in the exclusion zone do no longer allow it to wait. The federal government must support the hard work of the Ukrainian fire service,” the Green Party politician said. 34 years after the Chornobyl explosion, “a new radioactive cloud over Europe must be prevented.”
“Moscow’s hunt for Chechen-enemies” and “Ukraine detained the Kremlin spy killer” – such are the headlines of Welt and Bild newspapers in mid-April 2020.
Welt writes that “this operation is a success for the Ukrainian security apparatus and a sign to the world: “Look, Russia is not afraid of terror and killings. If the allegations are confirmed, the case will once again show how Moscow pursues exiled Chechens – and how Russian agents can also build and implement their plans in Europe, and adds, “This arrest can help German authorities understand how Russia plans its murders”.
The FSB terrorist network has ties in Germany, France, and Croatia
Bild delves further into this topic, and the author Julian Roepke is harsh in his expressions: “Obviously, the FSB terrorist network has ties in Germany, France, and Croatia – those countries where, apart from Ukraine, there is a particularly large number of exiled Russians, the Kremlin’s enemies, those seeking asylum from Putin’s revenge and against whom the attempts on murders are happening.
According to Bild, Germany among others found itself at the crossroads of the Russian murder network. In February, FSB officer Egorov and potential killer-to-be Shaitanov met in Hamburg to discuss the latest details of a Kremlin’s enemy of Chechen origin Osmaev’s assassination operation. Valery Shaitanov has repeatedly traveled to Germany to meet with his Russian curators, believing they were safe. According to Bild, Western intelligence services have facilitated surveillance of them.
The Swiss “Neue Zuercher Zeitung” also wrote about the detention, though, in short. However, it noted that Shaitanov was transmitting information about “secret operations against separatists supported by the Kremlin in Eastern Ukraine” to Moscow.
Finally, EUobserver reported that a private conversation had been leaked: Thierry Baudet, a Dutch MP who was behind the 2016 Association Agreement referendum in the Netherlands, spoke about his contacts with Russia with his FvD party colleagues through WhatsApp internal messaging.
The review by Marta Barandiy