Kyiv had its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20, with 13 centimeters of snow rapidly covering the capital. Traffic ground to a halt across the city while the number of road accidents surged. For example, a tram derailed on Kyrylivska Street in the Podil
The number of workers who operate as individual entrepreneurs in Ukraine has hit a five-year high of 2 million, monitoring service Opendatabot reported on Dec. 20. In the first 11 months of 2021, a total of 85,000 new people registered as individual entrepreneurs, continuing a growing trend that's been
Ukrainians who got Hr 1,000 from the government for getting their coronavirus shots are mainly spending it on cinema, books and theaters, according to new stats from the Ministry of Culture. The government began paying its promised cash rewards on Dec. 19 through the Diia mobile app. The bounty,
In the first 10 months of 2021, more than 600,000 Ukrainians left the country and didn't return, according to monitoring service Opendatabot. “In total, from 2011 to 2020, 2.6 million Ukrainian citizens did not return to the country,” Opendatabot reported. “According to the indicators of 2021, we can
The Health Ministry has signed an agreement to purchase Molnupiravir for the treatment of Covid-19, Deputy Health Minister Oleksandr Komarida announced on Dec. 17. Ukraine will purchase 300,000 courses of experimental antiviral pills. “Molnupiravir is a medication that blocks an enzyme needed by the virus to reproduce the genetic
The Cabinet of Ministers extended Ukraine's adaptive quarantine through March 31 to counteract the pandemic, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Dec. 15. "This means that all the rules for public places with Covid certificates, on wearing masks, on the (social) distance remain in force," Shmyhal explained. Under adaptive quarantine
Kyiv's famous Petrivka book market will be torn down and replaced by another shopping mall, according to documents available on the urban planning department website of the Kyiv City State Administration. The open air book market has attained legendary status among residents of the capital. It is the largest place
Health Minister Viktor Lyashko announced on Dec. 13 that Ukraine has reached the World Health Organization's recommended target of fully vaccinating 40% of its adult population against Covid-19 by the end of 2021. However, according to the WHO's Strategy to Achieve Global Covid-19 Vaccination by mid-2022, the goal for every
The Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office has started an investigation into a fake Covid-19 vaccination certificate scheme organized by a police officer and a medical worker, according to a Dec. 10 announcement. Law enforcement suspects the Kyiv-based duo of entering false information about vaccination into the Helsi electronic system, which then
Lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk, co-head of the pro-Kremlin 44-member Opposition Platform - For Life faction, failed to declare assets worth over Hr 73 million ($2.7 million), the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) announced on Dec. 8. According to the agency, Medvedchuk did not declare his Kyiv land
As the epidemic situation improves in Ukraine, the city of Kyiv and eight oblasts eased Covid-19 quarantine restrictions, moving from the strictest "red" status on Dec. 7. Donetsk Oblast has been moved into an "orange," second-strictest zone. Seven more oblasts, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Luhansk, Lviv, Odesa, Rivne, and Kherson oblasts now
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) placed an arrest on 13 passenger planes belonging to Russian company Smartavia Airlines because these aircraft were used to illegally fly to occupied Crimea. The SBU published an announcement on Dec. 6. The move starts the process that could lead to limiting where these
The European Council has announced on Dec. 2 it will provide 31 million euros to strengthen the capacities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the European Peace Facility program. Besides improving military resilience, the aid will also help the Armed Forces assist civilians in emergency situations. Ukraine will get the
The new variant has not been officially recorded in Ukraine as of Nov. 29, according to Health Minister Viktor Lyashko. The World Health Organization warned that Omicron has many mutations that may make it more virulent than the previous strains and get around immunity. First reported in South Africa on
The latest sanctions target Russian-linked shipping company Transadria Ltd. and its vessel, the Marlin. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the sanctions on Nov. 22, in a report to Congress related to continued actions against the pipeline. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on a total of eight individuals and
The statement came after Russia’s Foreign Ministry published its confidential diplomatic correspondence with France and Germany about the war in eastern Ukraine on Nov. 17. Kuleba said that the move undermined the remnants of trust in Russia, which will make the Donbas peace talks even more complicated. By publishing
