Pentagon, Kremlin trade accusations on Ukraine

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1. Critics fear officials trying to sabotage lustration drive

A police raid at the home and workplace of a Justice Ministry official who leads the nation's lustration campaign has called into question the Ukrainian government's commitment to cleansing the nation's political life of top officials from the ousted regime of Viktor Yanukovych and Communist Party members.

Tetiana Kozachenko, head of the lustration department of the Justice Ministry, said that police broke into her apartment and searched her ministry office on April 21. They were looking for a letter reportedly signed by Deputy Justice Minister Natalia Sevostianova to spare a top Fiscal Service official from lustration. The letter turned out to be a fake.

Kozachenko said she was the one who discovered the fraudulent letter in the first place, during her inspection of the Fiscal Service staff. There were no searches at the homes of others, including Sevostianova, whose signature is on the forged letter. Police found nothing during the search, according to Kozachenko.

But lawmakers and public activists criticized the search and the authorities, including President Petro Poroshenko, for interfering with the political cleansing process.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/critics-fear-officials-trying-to-sabotage-lustration-drive-386996.html