Several thousand protesters gathered in central Kyiv on the evening of Dec. 1 to demand President Volodymyr Zelensky’s resignation over what they see as his concessions to the Kremlin. The protesters zeroed in on Zelensky’s statement earlier the same day that he’s not afraid of direct negotiations
The court’s Nov. 30 decision may alleviate concerns by judicial watchdogs and Western experts about the court’s legitimacy. But President Volodymyr Zelensky said he’s concerned by the delay and sees it as an attempt to promote discredited judges’ interests. The Constitutional Court has been in crisis for
Any aggression from Russia against Ukraine would trigger “serious consequences,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Nov. 30. Blinken told a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Riga that Russia is combining military movements along Ukraine’s border with internal efforts to destabilize the country. NATO Secretary-General
Why is the reform needed? Ukraine’s judiciary remains corrupt, dysfunctional and politicized. Its governing bodies — the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission — are discredited because they have protected tainted judges. The previous High Qualification Commission was disbanded in 2019 by a law introduced by President Volodymyr
Zelensky said he had appointed Oksana Hryshchuk and Oleksandr Petryshyn as Constitutional Court judges. They are supposed to replace Constitutional Court chairman Oleksandr Tupytsky and judge Oleksandr Kasminin. Tupytsky has been charged with bribing a witness, and both Tupytsky and Kasminin were later fired by Zelensky as a “threat to
Civil society groups on Nov. 25 urged President Volodymyr Zelensky not to appoint judges who do not meet ethics and integrity standards. The groups include DEJURE, the Anti-Corruption Action Center, AutoMaidan and others. On Nov. 18, the High Council of Justice, the judiciary’s main governing body, nominated 135 candidates
President Volodymyr Zelensky again broke his election year promise to not use state residences, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Nov. 24. Zelensky attended the birthday party of his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, at the presidential residence Synyiohora in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Both reportedly flew there on Nov. 19 and returned to
On Nov. 24, pro-Kremlin lawmaker Vadym Novynsky said that he had paid Odesa Mayor Hennady Trukhanov’s bail of $1.1 million. In October the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine brought organized crime and abuse of power charges against Trukhanov and Vladimir Galanternik, the mayor’s former ally and an
German Green Party co-leader Annalena Baerbock, who is a vocal opponent of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, will become her country’s foreign minister, according to a coalition deal finalized on Nov. 24. The coalition government, which is composed of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green Party
This very important seat has been vacant since August 2020, when the previous top anti-corruption prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytsky resigned. Attempts to replace him have been repeatedly delayed and sabotaged by officials. The next meeting of the panel choosing the chief anti-corruption prosecutor is scheduled for Nov. 25. Here’s what
Ukrainska Pravda quoted anonymous ex-employees of the Dom TV channel saying that their editors instructed them to include positive mentions of President Volodymyr Zelensky in their news coverage. The journalists also said they were told to avoid mentioning ex-President Petro Poroshenko, Zelensky’s opponent. The Dom TV channel was launched
The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office announced that it finalized the investigation and brought bribery charges against Yury Zontov, the brother of infamous judge Pavlo Vovk, on Nov. 19. The case is now expected to be sent to trial. In April, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) arrested Zontov,
What is happening in Georgia? Ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a Ukrainian citizen, returned to Georgia on Oct. 1. He was arrested upon arrival and jailed on what he says are trumped-up charges. He has been on a hunger strike since his arrest. On Nov. 18, he was transferred to an
Former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili has been transferred to an intensive care unit after falling unconscious in a Georgian jail, a Georgian news agency reported on Nov. 18. Saakashvili is a Ukrainian citizen and the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Executive Committee for Reform. Saakashvili arrived in Georgia
The border encampments that housed Middle Eastern migrants had been cleared out by the Belarusian government as of the morning of Nov. 18, the New York Times reported. Some people were moved to a government warehouse. However, Western officials remain concerned that the crisis may not be over. Since July,
The American and his alleged Ukrainian accomplice were arrested and charged with attempted murder, Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said at a press briefing on Nov. 18. At the briefing, Agriculture Minister Roman Leshchenko alleged that the duo wanted to kill him over a business conflict from 2018, before he became
Ukraine’s military intelligence conducted an unsuccessful sting operation to capture 33 Kremlin-backed Wagner Group mercenaries in July 2020, the Bellingcat investigative project reported on Nov. 17. According to the investigation, the operation failed after President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak told intelligence officials to delay the mercenaries’
What is happening in Belarus? Since July, Belarusian authorities have allowed thousands of refugees from the Middle East to come to Belarus and cross the country’s borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Many of them have tried to break through using force — 11 people have been killed as a
Brian Bonner, ex-chief editor of the Kyiv Post, told The Ukrainian Weekly on Nov. 12 that after the Kyiv Post ran a critical story about Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova in November 2020, he was invited to her office where he faced “pressure.” The Kyiv Post ran another critical article about
