UKRAINE: HIGH-PROFILE RUSSIANS BANNED ENTRY INTO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 004301 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PINR RS UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE: HIGH-PROFILE RUSSIANS BANNED ENTRY INTO UKRAINE Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon, reason 1.5 (b,d) ¶1. (SBU) Chief of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) Ihor Drizhchany told journalists November 6 that the SBU had blacklisted 131 foreigners thus far in 2006 for "activities damaging national security interests." When we inquired, an SBU official advised that the SBU does not release names of individuals on the list unless the individuals themselves publicize their status. The most often cited cases have involved Russian citizens, known to have been involved in overt calls threatening the territorial integrity of Ukraine, usually focused on Crimea, often made while in Crimea. ¶2. (C) MFA First Territorial Department (responsible for relations with Russia) Counselor Oleksandr Kushnir told us November 16 that the issue of banned Russians was raised by Russian officials during FM Lavrov's November 7-8 visit to Kyiv. Ukrainian officials emphasized they had responded in accordance with domestic legislation and international norms and standards. Ukraine had the right to refuse entry to anyone with a record of violating Ukrainian law and disrupting internal security. They suggested that the Russian government advise its citizens that denial of entry into a country was a potential consequences of inappropriate or illegal activity. Kushnir said, while MFA is consulted, the SBU has the final authority on persons to be banned from entry. ¶3. (C) Comment: The Ukrainian step to ban entry of certain individuals might be more of a public relations move designed to convey Ukrainian government displeasure rather than an effective measure to block the entry of Russians across the porous Ukraine-Russia border. For example, we saw putatively banned Russian Duma member Konstantin Zatulin at the Ukrainian parliament (Rada) during the week of November 6. Some actions, such as the deportation of Aleksey Dobychin and the presumed cancellation of his right to residence in Sevastopol, and the turning away of several Russians at the airport, like Kiril Frolov, would have a more direct impact on the individuals concerned. ¶4. (U) The following is open source information that we have gathered on a number of well-known Russians who have been banned entry into Ukraine, mostly for their anti-Ukrainian activities and statements. ¶A. Vladmir Zhirinovsky, Vice Speaker of the Russian State Duma, was banned from entry into Ukraine in June 2006. Press reports indicated that Zhirinovsky made numerous negative statements regarding Ukrainian sovereignty vis-a-vis Russia. Additionally, he stated that he hoped Ukraine would become a member of NATO so that Ukrainian soldiers would come back from Iraq in coffins. Our open source searches indicated that Zhirinovsky was also banned from entering Turkey and Kazakhstan. ¶B. Konstantin Zatulin, Russian State Duma member, was banned from entry into Ukraine on June 3, 2006, by the SBU. According to press reports, the SBU stated that his "activities set the ground for illegal actions related to attempts (to weaken) Ukraine's territorial integrity and instigation of ethnic hatred." Apparently, the specific reason behind the SBU's decision to ban Zatulin was based on his participation in the protest actions against the joint U.S.-Ukrainian military exercise in Feodosiya (SEA BREEZE) this summer. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicly condemned the SBU decision to blacklist him, calling it a "serious and unfriendly act toward a State Duma member a well-known political analyst, and a proponent of friendly relations between Ukraine and Russia." Furthermore, on November 30 the Kyiv Court of Appeals will consider his appeal of the SBU decision to ban his entry. Media reports indicate that the Shevchenkivsky Court in Kyiv had earlier upheld the June 2006 SBU decision. Additionally, Zatulin is also head of the Russian Institute of CIS Countries. ¶C. Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov was banned in 2004 after he took part in a notorious separatist congress in Severodonetsk (Luhansk region) in November 2004 at the height of the Orange Revolution. This gathering reportedly supported the idea of a Southeastern Autonomous Republic in Ukraine. ¶D. ORT journalist Mikhail Leontyev was also banned from entry to Ukraine in early 2006. He made several derogatory remarks about the sovereignty of Ukraine, stating that Ukraine does not exist as a country and is not a separate nation. Since 2001, he also made several negative remarks about President Viktor Yushchenko and his wife Kateryna Chumachenko, who later sued him. KYIV 00004301 002 OF 002 ¶E. Kiril Frolov, a Russian political scientist and head of the Ukraine Department at the Russian Institute of CIS Countries (under Zatulin),was detained in Simferopol Airport on January 27, 2006, and sent back to Russia for allegedly propagating separatist ideals among the Crimean population. Frolov complained about his inclusion on the blacklist, claiming that it was repression and violated the treaty between Russia and Ukraine on free border crossings. ¶F. Eduard Limonov, Chairman of the Russian National-Bolshevisk Party, was banned entry to Ukraine until ¶2008. In 1999, Limonov and his fellow party members climbed on the roof of the Sailor's Club in Sevastopol, raised a Russian flag, and proclaimed Sevastopol a Russian city. During this incident he also distributed leaflets from the top of the building, demanding to make Sevastopol a Russian city. ¶G. Aleksey Dobychin, leader of the pro-Russian Proryv Movement, who had resided in Sevastopol for several years, was deported to Moscow on June 23, 2006. The SBU accused him of anti-Ukrainian activities. In mid-January 2006, he led a publicity stunt for Russian TV in which Proryv activists blocked the main road out of Crimea, dug a symbolic trench, and declared independence. He was also reportedly involved in the May-June SEA BREEZE protests in Feodosiya. ¶H. Gleb Pavlovsky, a Russian political scientist famous for his anti-Ukraine rhetoric and who served as the chief strategist for Yanukovych's failed 2004 presidential bid, was recently banned from entry into Ukraine. Press reports indicated the Ukrainian MFA did not understand why the Russian MFA would be troubled by Ukraine's decision to put him on the blacklist and stated that Pavlovsky had "crossed the line separating political consultations from interference in the domestic affairs of a foreign country." A group of five political scientists published an open letter protesting the ban on Pavlovsky's entry. The letter said, "We may not share the views and assessments of our Russian colleague, furthermore some of us absolutely reject them, but we regard the ban,... as a dangerous precedent and an offense against the basice principles of democracy, freedom of speech, and human rights." The letter was signed by Kost Bondarenko, Andriy Yermolaev, Rostislav Ischenko, Vadym Karasiov, Volodymyr Malinkevych, Mykhailo Pohrebysnsky, and Volodymyr Fesenko. The Ukrainian government later noted it allowed Pavlovsky to enter Ukraine for one day to solve unnamed family problems. ¶5. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kyiv. Taylor