>>15805252

>We heard Regions planned to introduce

Media: Manafort received $17 million from Party of Regions in Ukraine

Friday, June 30, 2017 7:00:11 AM

Former campaign manager for U.S. President Donald Trump Paul Manafort received $17 million from the Ukrainian Party of Regions in 2012-2013.

The BBC reported that Manafort received money for work for the Party of Regions, of which former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was a member. This was revealed from documents that he filed with the U.S. Justice Department under the law on the registration of foreign agents.

The consulting firm of Trump’s ex-campaign manager had to register as a foreign agent because of work for the Ukrainian party.

According to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), U.S. citizens and legal entities are required to register as foreign agents if they work in the interests of foreign governments. Refusal to register may result in prosecution.

From the completed form which Manafort submitted to the Ministry of Justice, it can be seen that in 2012-2013, his firm wrote a pre-election program for the Party of Regions, implemented an election campaign strategy, developed a party platform and conducted international observation of the elections. The deal was concluded with the acting chairman of the Party of Regions Volodymyr Rybak, who was Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from 2012 to 2014.

In the application submitted to the Ministry of Justice, the purpose of Manafort's work for the Party of Regions in 2013-2014 is described as “decentralization of power with the transfer of maximum powers to the regions, the construction of a Western-style political party, and making Ukraine more attractive for investment in the region.”

The company received $17 million from the Party of Regions. For consultant work, interviewing agencies and other services, Manafort spent more than $4 million, including $2.1 million on travel expenses.

Manafort was forced to resign as Trump’s campaign manager in August 2016 against the backdrop of the scandal that erupted after publication in the New York Times. This was based on the news that Manafort received almost $13 million in cash from the Party of Regions.

Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office Nazar Kholodnitskiy said in early June that the investigation into the “black books” of the Party of Regions has no connection to Manafort.

>>15805252

>>15805389

>the events in Feodosiya and the presence if our Marine reservists in Crimea

Russian's protestig Nato wargames in Crimea?

From 2006.

Protests threaten Nato war games

A screen-grab from Russian television shows protesters celebrating the departure of US marines from Feodosiya in Crimea, Ukraine. Photograph: RTR/AP

A screen-grab from Russian television shows protesters celebrating the departure of US marines from Feodosiya in Crimea, Ukraine. Photograph: RTR/AP

Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow

Mon 12 Jun 2006 12.18 BST

US marines who were preparing forNato-ledwar games in the Ukrainian region of Crimea left amid acrimony on Monday after weeks ofprotest againstthe military bloc left doubts as to whether the exercises would take place at all.

A Ukrainian navy spokesman, Volodymyr Bova, told the Interfax news agency that 100 marine reservists were flying back to the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany. They have been unable to complete their task of improving the plumbing and infrastructure of the Feodosiya military base on the Black Sea because of anti-Nato protests that in effect barricaded them into the health resort where they had been staying since their arrival over two weeks ago.

One hundred and twenty-five of the 227-strong contingent of marine reservists left in four coaches on Sunday, driving out of the base past rows of protesters waving Yankee Go Home placards. The Ukrainian region of Crimea is predominantly Russian-speaking, and has been increasingly outspoken in its anti-Nato, pro-Moscow stance since the pro-western government of Viktor Yushchenko came to power after the protests of the orange revolution in November 2004.

The Sea Breeze 2006 exercises were due to start on July 16 but have been postponed because of the protests. They are seen as a vital step in the former Soviet Union country's bid to join Nato in 2008, which in turn will help it join the European Union some years later.

The Ukrainian ministry of defence echoed US claims that the men were being withdrawn because their period of service as reservists had expired and they had civilian jobs to return to in the US. Andriy Lysenko, a defence ministry spokesman, told Reuters: "The US reservists were to come here for three weeks. This period has elapsed and they are returning home to their factories and hospitals."

He conceded that the protests had impeded their work: "Unfortunately, the men were unable to complete the work that they were assigned." The US embassy website states the marines were due to stay in Crimea for two to three weeks, a term that would have expired in the coming week.

But anti-Nato politicians seized on the withdrawal as a victory for Russian influence in the region. The Russian Communist leader, Gennady Zyuganov, speaking on Sunday to Moscow radio, dismissed the claim that the marines' terms of service had ended. "What contract are they speaking of? They were simply incapable of fulfilling their mission. They saw that Ukraine had risen to its feet and feared an aggravation of the situation."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/12/ukraine.russia