First tranche to Ukraine from Russian assets and arrest of suspect in Farion's murder - Friday brief
RBC-Ukraine collage
The European Union has allocated the first payment to support Ukraine worth 1.5 billion euros, derived from the proceeds of Russia's frozen assets. Meanwhile, a court remanded an 18-year-old suspect in the murder of Iryna Farion into custody.
RBK-Ukraine has collected the main news for July 26.
EU allocates first tranche of EUR1.5 bln to Ukraine from frozen Russian assets
EU is allocating the first payment to support Ukraine for EUR1.5 billion received from frozen Russian assets.
Revenues received by EU operators and central securities depositories (CSDs) from frozen Russian sovereign assets were transferred to Euroclear by the European Commission as the first tranche on July 23.
"The money will now be channelled through the European Peace Facility and to the Ukraine Facility to support Ukraine's military capabilities as well as to support the country's reconstruction," the statement says.
The freezing of the Russian Central Bank's assets was the result of EU sanctions against Russia in response to its aggressive war against Ukraine. The revenues earned by EU operators do not belong to Russia and are kept in central depositories. Now, the EU has started to send these funds to Ukraine.
Suspect in Iryna Farion murder case remanded in custody
A pre-trial restraint has been imposed on the detained 18-year-old suspected of murdering Ukrainian public figure Iryna Farion. The court in Lviv decided to send the suspect to custody for two months without the right to be released on bail.
The suspect will be held in custody in Lviv. The suspect's lawyer asked the court to impose a round-the-clock house arrest, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to prove his involvement in the crime. However, the court granted the prosecutor's request.
After the court hearing, speaking to journalists, the suspect's lawyer, Ihor Sulyma, said that he would appeal the court's decision. The lawyer explained that he believed the court's decision was unfounded.
The suspect in Farion's murder pleaded not guilty.
2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony in Paris
The grand opening of the Summer Olympics in the French capital was scheduled for Friday evening. This large-scale event in Paris attracted thousands of Olympians, watched by tens of thousands of fans and millions of viewers worldwide.
The large-scale event was held in the open air, on the banks of the Seine River.
The competition in the French capital will take place from July 26 to August 11. This year, more than ten thousand athletes from all over the world have come to the world tournament.
They will compete for nearly 330 sets of awards in 32 different sports.
Ukrainian forces hit Saky air base in Crimea overnight
Ukrainian forces struck at the Saky airfield in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The consequences of the strike are currently being clarified.
The Defense Forces continue to destroy the Russian military infrastructure. The Saky airfield, which Russia uses to control the airspace, the Black Sea and to launch air strikes on the territory of Ukraine, was struck at night.
“Information on the consequences of the strike is being clarified. The airfield was covered by 'modern' Russian air defense systems, which once again failed to protect an important military facility of Russia,” the General Staff added.
Pentagon reveals accounting errors in $2 billion in aid to Ukraine
The Pentagon has identified an additional $2 billion in miscalculations concerning the ammunition, missiles, and other equipment sent to Ukraine, raising the total misvalued materials to $8.2 billion.
The US Department of Defense has encountered difficulties in accurately assessing the defense articles sent to Ukraine due to unclear accounting definitions, as highlighted in a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
In 2023, the Pentagon disclosed that personnel had used "replacement cost" instead of "depreciated cost" to calculate the value of billions of dollars worth of materials sent to Ukraine. This $6.2 billion error created the possibility of sending Kyiv additional billions of dollars.
The Pentagon informed the GAO that a further $2 billion in overestimations had since been identified. Consequently, an additional $2 billion worth of weaponry could be sent to Ukraine to cover the aid volume approved by President Joe Biden's administration.
According to the GAO, vague cost definitions in the Foreign Assistance Act and the lack of specific guidance on assessing presidential drawdown authority led to inconsistencies in the data on the cost of military aid.
One example from the GAO report cited 10 vehicles valued at $7,050,000, while the supporting documentation indicated they should have been valued at zero—their net book value.
