Michael MacKay, Radio Lemberg, 18.11.2018   “As a matter of international law, and notwithstanding the fact that Russia is in effective control, Crimea is part of Ukraine. Ukraine has now closed the Crimean Ports. As a matter of Ukrainian law, it is illegal for vessels to call there.” The Security Service of Ukraine said this in a statement in February 2016.   Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2014. Foreign occupation forces prevented Ukrainian authorities from regulating maritime traffic to and from ports in Crimea. On 16 June 2014, the Ukrainian government ordered the closure of Kerch, Theodosia, Sevastopol, Yalta and Evpatoria ports to international shipping. Ukrainian legislation was reinforced by a set of tight sanctions from the European Union and the United States which were specifically aimed at restricting shipping and trade with Ukrainian Crimea while it is temporarily Russian-occupied.   Ukraine has arrested or placed under restriction only a tiny number of the many vessels that have violated Ukrainian law and international sanctions. Spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Oleh Slobodyan, said on November 15: “Already 15 vessels have been placed under arrest or other restrictions. These are all vessels that have violated Ukraine’s legislation by visiting Crimean ports.” Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine four and three quarter years ago, more than 940 foreign ships have arrived at Crimean ports.   Ukraine has stopped less than two percent of the multitude of ships that are making a mockery of maritime law and the rules-based international order. But even that tiny amount is enough to send the Russians into a fit of aggressive hysteria. A member of the Russian Federation Council, Frants Klintsevich, said that the Russian Federation is capable of blocking the Sea of Azov to Ukrainian ships “within minutes.” Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian Federation

Michael MacKay, Radio Lemberg, 17.11.2018   Ukraine is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. It can make and enforce its own laws, choose its own alliances, defend its own territory, and elect its own leaders.   Two of Ukraine’s neighbours work to undermine its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Russian Federation and Hungary both act on the premise that Ukraine is “not a real country” and is not entitled to mutual respect in the family of nations. The Russian Federation is at war with Ukraine, and has invaded and occupied Crimea and part of Donbas. Hungary is aggressively interfering in the internal affairs of Ukraine in Zakarpattia and is blocking all high-level engagement between Ukraine and the European Union and between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.   Ukraine will have very important presidential and then parliamentary elections in 2019. This week, Russian Federation dictator Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made almost simultaneous announcements about how they plan to interfere in Ukraine’s elections. Both men expressed great animosity towards Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. They indirectly stated they will work in the interests of any other leader who will be open to ceding Ukrainian territory and sovereignty if he or she is elected.   Both authoritarians adopted the false mask of punditry, but they are both political actors. Putin and Orbán have already begun to interfere in Ukraine’s election. The Russian Federation and Hungary are both working against the legacy of the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine and against the path to Europe the Ukrainian people chose for themselves.   Putin talked about the government of Ukraine under President Poroshenko that was elected in 2014: “As long as such people are in power in Kyiv, one can hardly count on a peaceful solution of the issue in these territories.” He was

Michael MacKay, Radio Lemberg, 16.11.2018     The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation treacherously shelled the settlements of Shumy and Pivdenne, Ukraine on November 15. Bombarding the villages with 120 millimetre and 82 millimetre calibre mortars from a residential area of occupied Horlivka, Russian invasion troops completely destroyed two houses in Pivdenne.   Russian forces invading and occupying Ukraine waited until they knew OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine teams had left Shumy and Pivdenne. The OSCE allows Russia to monitor its own invasion from inside the OSCE SMM so it's very easy for the aggressor to know where to attack. The OSCE allows representatives of the aggressor state on monitoring teams and refuses representatives of the defending state on them.   The fire positions of the Russian forces, as usual, were located in the middle of a residential neighbourhood of occupied Horlivka. The direction of fire indicates that the bombardment was launched from the Haharina mine settlement in the western outskirts of the city of Horlivka. Ukrainian forces did not fire back at an area inhabited by civilians. Russians fire on Ukrainian civilians from areas inhabited by Ukrainian civilians as a matter of policy as they are invading Ukraine. The Ukrainian army doesn’t fire on Ukrainian civilians as a matter of policy as it is defending Ukraine.   The Horlivka-Toretsk water pipeline runs across the demarcation line immediately to the east of Shumy settlement. It supplies water to almost 60 thousand people. Because of the bombardment by Russian occupation troops, Ukrainian authorities assess a high probability of damage to this public infrastructure.   The Ukrainian side of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) condemned the occupation administration and armed groups of the Russian Federation for shelling settlements: “The occupiers irresponsibly and deliberately continue to destroy

Олег Шарп, Facebook, 15.11.2018    Московські посіпаки у рясах провели закритий з’їзд РПЦ КГБ СССР у Лаврі (яка, до речі, належить українському народу, а не купці безбожників, які моляться на Гундяя), а сьогодні вранці була спроба підпалити Андріївську церкву.   Чудовий розвиток подій, як на мене! Було би набагато гірше, якби адепти сталінської церкви пішли на вимушений компроміс з прибічниками автокефалії, зберегли більшість своїх посад і єпархій, а потім підточували та розвалювали єдину церкву зсередини — бо дідько ніколи не стане ангелом, а кремлівський вірус не лікується ні сеансами екзорцизму, ні кадилом по фейсу.    Наразі ж маски скинуто, і без всіляких еківоків позначено водорозділ за принципом «свій-чужий». Нейтралізувати ж відкритого ворога набагато простіше, аніж замаскованого. І не треба співати, що цих московських підрясників підтримує частина вірян-українців — то є малороси, які ще мають шанс повернутись до свої корінь та стати справжніми українцями, і які вірять у Бога і свою країну, а не в ідеологічний підрозділ Кремля.    Що стосується невдалої спроби підпалу представництва Вселенського патріархату, то тут спрацювала притаманна «рускамуміру» криворукість: ні Скрипалів отруїти, ні «Кузю» відремонтувати, ні сечу підмінити, ні пожежу влаштувати вони вже якісно не можуть — з дійсних майстрів на Заліссі лишились тільки якутські скульптори з їхніми шедеврами з лайна.    А за попередження дякуємо. Я вже писав, що після погроз з Москви Варфоломея охороняють морські піхотинці США; впевнений — ми зможемо захистити і його представництво в Україні.   Владімір Путін: Нинішня влада України є нездатною вирішити проблему Донбасу.   Знаєте, якоб є основна помилка московської стратегії в Україні? Московити за сталою традицією екстраполюють свою психологію на українців, вважаючи, що кремлівські посили (на