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Moscow Court Upholds Extending Pretrial Detention Of Ukrainian Sailors
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WATCH: Moscow Court Upholds Extending Pretrial Detention Of Ukrainian Sailors

Live Blog: A New Government In Ukraine (Archive Sept. 3, 2018-Aug. 16, 2019)

-- EDITOR'S NOTE: We have started a new Ukraine Live Blog as of August 17, 2019. You can find it here.

-- A court in Moscow has upheld a lower court's decision to extend pretrial detention for six of the 24 Ukrainian sailors detained by Russian forces along with their three naval vessels in November near the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

-- The U.S. special peace envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, says Russian propaganda is making it a challenge to solve the conflict in the east of the country.

-- Two more executives of DTEK, Ukraine's largest private power and coal producer, have been charged in a criminal case on August 14 involving an alleged conspiracy to fix electricity prices with the state energy regulator, Interfax reported.

-- A Ukrainian deputy minister and his aide have been detained after allegedly taking a bribe worth $480,000, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau said on Facebook.

*Time stamps on the blog refer to local time in Ukraine

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We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.

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21:54 2.5.2019

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Here's more from RFE/RL's news desk on a potential scandal involving Olena Zelenska:

Report: Wife Of Ukraine's President-Elect Zelenskiy Bought Flat From Tycoon At Favorable Price

Ukraine's president-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, greet their supporters at his headquarters after his election victory on April 21.
Ukraine's president-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, greet their supporters at his headquarters after his election victory on April 21.

Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy's wife purchased a luxury apartment on favorable terms from business tycoon Oleksandr Buryak, Reuters reports, citing official income and property records.

In a report issued on May 1, the news agency said documents showed Zelenskiy's wife, Olena Zelenska, bought a three-room penthouse apartment on Ukraine's Crimean peninsula for $163,893 in April 2013.

That would put the price per square meter at about $1,263, compared with listings at the time that were priced at between $3,500 and $4,000 per square meter.

Reuters said in the report it was unable to establish why the apartment was sold at below-market prices.

Neither Zelenskiy nor his wife responded to requests for comment submitted via his campaign team and via companies he co-owns, the news agency said.

The 41-year-old actor Zelenskiy won an April 21 presidential election runoff, campaigning largely on his status as a newcomer to Ukraine’s political scene who was not beholden to the business and political elite.

He beat incumbent Petro Poroshenko, a wealthy businessman, who had been plagued by accusations of turning a blind eye to rampant corruption that favored the country’s wealthiest citizens.

In a statement issued after the Reuters report, Zelenskiy's campaign office said all Ukrainian taxes and fees had been paid and that the property had been declared in line with the law.

The statement added that the price had been consistent with market levels at the time.

A follow-up statement said the apartment's price had been professionally assessed and compared to others in the area as part of the sale process.

The step was mandatory for the sale to be recognized by a notary, it said.

According to Reuters, public property-register documents show Buryak to be the seller of the apartment. The news agency said he declined to comment.

Based on reporting by Reuters
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