The State Investigation Bureau tried to hand a summons to ex-President Petro Poroshenko in a case into treason and aiding terrorist groups in Russian-occupied areas of the Donbas. The bureau said detectives had attempted to give him the summons in front of the Verkhovna Rada on Dec. 17 but he
More than half of Ukrainians will actively resist in the event of an all-out Russian invasion, according to a new survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published on Dec. 17. The Kremlin has amassed nearly 100,000 troops surrounding Ukraine in November in what Ukrainian and Western intelligence
Ukraine could soon recognize Jerusalem – the contested holy city claimed as the capital by both Israelis and Palestinians – as Israel’s “one and only capital,” Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk told The Times of Israel. "No foreign minister or ambassador can call Jerusalem anything but the capital of
Amid the ongoing security crisis, Moscow has suggested a grant agreement with the West that de facto aims to reinstate its Cold War time exclusive sphere of influence in Eastern Europe and also prevent Ukraine from ever joining NATO. After voicing a series of public demands and holding negotiations with
Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced on Dec. 17 that Ukraine's coal shortage has been resolved. The statement came after a months-long energy crisis in Ukraine and contradicted some of the recent reports that emerged in the country. Shmyhal said that Ukraine now extracts and imports 2 million tons of
Our picks for the best art, music, film and more in the capital. All venues require one of the following: certificates of vaccination, negative test or recovery from Covid-19. * From a nursery teacher to Europe’s best young artist – in the last three years, Alyona Alyona has done so much
A Russian court of justice appears to have overtly documented the regular presence of the Russian military in the occupied Donbas region of Ukraine in a corruption case against a local company in charge of ration supplies for troops. Since the beginning of the war in the Donbas in 2014,
The European Parliament passed a resolution on Dec. 16 condemning Russia for threatening Ukraine with war and promising a “high economic and political price” for new hostilities. The resolution calling for Russia to withdraw its forces was approved by 548 votes of 705 members. “Russia does not decide Ukraine’s
Despite all the diplomatic efforts made in the past few weeks, NATO sees no signs that Russia's military buildup next to Ukraine is stopping or slowing down, according to the Alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. On the contrary, Russia's preparation is continuing, the official asserted on Dec. 16 during his
Ukrainska Pravda, a prominent Ukrainian news outlet, gave its annual Journalist of the Year award to the team of the Kyiv Independent on Dec. 15. Since 2020, Ukrainska Pravda has been giving away end-of-the-year awards for special achievements. This time, it recognized the team of the Kyiv Independent for their
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Dec. 16 that it had uncovered an active Kyiv cell of the Islamic State, one of the world’s deadliest terror groups. According to a preliminary investigation, the cell had 12 members, including five Russian citizens. Security services carried out 11 searches
Artem Sytnyk, head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), was appointed in 2015 to achieve a breakthrough in Ukraine’s long fight against elite corruption. Sytnyk’s term expires in April 2022, which means that the time has come to assess the achievements of his tenure. The Kyiv
On Dec. 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law the annual state budget for 2022. A 4% spending increase coupled with a deficit cut necessitated by IMF conditions meant that the government had to find nearly $8 billion of extra revenue, creating several new taxes and hiking up existing ones,
President Volodymyr Zelensky held meetings with the leaders of France and Germany to gather support for Ukraine on Dec. 15 in Brussels, on the sidelines of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit. The Eastern Partnership is a joint initiative organized by the EU and dedicated to the development of
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
Recent developments in the crisis surrounding Russia’s troop buildup on Ukraine's border have shed a light on what the Kremlin may hope to achieve by creating a global war scare and launching an intimidation campaign. After a Dec. 7 video conference with U.S. President Joe Biden, Russian President
The Sixth Court of Appeal in Kyiv refused to let oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky-linked companies off the hook in the PrivatBank case on Dec. 14. The decision is a blow to Triantal Investments, a Cyprus-based firm that's under Kolomoisky's control, according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). The company used
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has uncovered the largest operation producing fake Covid-19 documentation and distributing it throughout the whole country, according to a Dec. 14 announcement. The operation generated around $185,000 a month, based on preliminary estimates. According to documents obtained by the SBU from the alleged
According to the Ministry of Health, unvaccinated patients are five times more likely to be hospitalized and nine times more likely to die of Covid-19 complications than fully vaccinated people. These statistics are based on data the ministry collected from August to October 2021, Deputy Health Minister Ihor Kuzin said
A Belarusian court on Dec. 14 sentenced opposition leader and popular blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky to 18 years in a high-security prison. Five other suspects in the Tikhanovsky case were jailed for 14 to 16 years. The verdict is a new low in what has been described as the biggest wave
Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, told German broadcaster ZDF on Dec. 12 that Russia’s current hostile actions towards Ukraine are “a factor” in the certification delay of the Kremlin’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. This is the first time a member of the German government has
Deputy Interior Minister Oleksandr Gogilashvili submitted his resignation after a video surfaced of him yelling insults at police officers trying to establish his identity. The Cabinet of Ministers accepted Gogilashvili's resignation on Dec. 13 after President Volodymyr Zelensky urged them to dismiss the official. Gogilashvili caused the scandal on Dec.
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
Nord Stream 2, an $11 billion undersea gas pipeline meant to connect Russia’s rich gas fields with fuel-hungry European energy markets, has found itself at the center of a conflict between the West and Russia. A great deal of Russian gas had to go overland, through Ukraine, to reach
Ukraine's Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov claimed in a Dec. 12 interview with the Financial Times that Germany had vetoed Ukraine's purchase of anti-drone and anti-sniper equipment via NATO's Support and Procurement Agency. According to Reznikov, who was appointed to his position in November, the veto was made "in the
For the third year in a row, Ukrainian cadets have graduated with honors from the British Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, one of the world’s leading officer training academies. This year, officer cadet Pavlo Lacy has been awarded the International Sword by the academy's commandant, marking him as the best
Russia may have no intention of launching a large-scale invasion of Ukraine despite its recent military buildup, instead aiming to force the West into political concessions, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington D.C.-based think tank. In a report issued on Dec. 9,
Three-division boxing champion Vasyl Lomachenko defeated Ghanaian lightweight Richard Commey by unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec. 11. Though Commey went down to Lomachenko's left hook in the seventh, the late-night World Boxing Organization intercontinental title fight ran for the full 12 rounds. It
The Foreign Ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries warned Russia on Dec. 12 of “massive consequences” in case of further military aggression against Ukraine. The statement, made during the G7 meeting in Liverpool, U.K., addresses Russia's buildup of nearly 100,000 troops on Ukraine's borders and in
The World Bank announced on Dec. 10 that it will give Ukraine $150 million to help "prevent, detect and respond to the threats posed by Covid-19 and strengthen Ukraine's national health system." Around $120 million will go towards helping Ukraine buy 16.5 million vaccine doses, enough to fully innoculate
National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) head Kyrylo Shevchenko told Bloomberg on Dec. 10 that he's endured political pressure since his appointment in July 2020. “We see attempts by certain actors to influence the decision-making process in the NBU, smear campaigns targeting the bank and its top management and even criminal
From January 2022, Ukraine will apply a 20% tax on web-based services provided by foreign tech firms. According to the law, passed by parliament in June, foreign tech companies have to pay a 20% value-added tax, or VAT, for digital services they provide to local users. The law targets products
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