Judge Who Jailed Ukraine Protesters Shot Dead

We previously highlighted just how serious the situation was in Ukraine - and Victoria Nuland's FUBAR comments and clear US manipulation did nothing to calm matters - but today's news (via Ria Novosti) suggests things are escalating rapidly. Alexander Lobodenko - a 34-year-old district court judge who recently sentenced several political protesters to house arrest has been shot dead.

Via Ria Novosti,

A Ukrainian judge who recently sentenced several political protesters to house arrest has been shot dead by unknown attackers, police said Wednesday.

Alexander Lobodenko, a 34-year-old district court judge, was shot several times in the back by two assailants on a street near his home in central Ukraine late Tuesday night, the country’s Interior Ministry said.

One of the bullets grazed his spine, according to a statement on the Kremenchug district website, and Lobodenko died in intensive care at about 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Police have opened a criminal case into the death and said that Lobodenko was likely killed as a result of his judicial work.They did not speculate about which of the judge’s decisions may have motivated the attack.

One of Lobodenko’s most recent rulings, according to the Ukrainian newspaper Telegraf, sentenced two pro-European activists on January 28 to two months of house arrest.

The men had tried to break into the city hall building during a rally in Kremenchug days before, in a local instance of a broad anti-government protest movement that has engulfed Ukraine for the last two months.

Meanwhile, investors are increasingly of the view that Ukraine will need to devalue by at least 20% further...

Ukraine is key candidate among CIS countries for further devaluation, Sergey Dergachev, who helps oversee $9 billion as a portfolio manager at Union Investment Privatfonds in Frankfurt, said by e-mail.

Hryvnia to devalue by “at least” 20% vs dollar in 3-6 mos.

“Ukraine has still a very overvalued FX rate, and Ukraine has only bought some time with the introduction of capital controls last week, since they do not really fix the macroeconomic imbalances”

Move by Kazakh authorities yday to devalue the currency is “clear signal to Ukraine that current muddle through of strong UAH defense is not sustainable”

Source: Zero Hedge