Record number of coronavirus cases
As of the morning of November 3, 8,889 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Ukraine in the previous 24 hours – a new daily record since the beginning of the pandemic. Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on November 3 that “The situation with the coronavirus in Ukraine is close to catastrophic and the nation must prepare for the worst.” As of November 3, the number of people infected since the beginning of the pandemic was 411,093, 7,532 have died, and 168,868 recovered. The largest number of confirmed cases was registered in Kyiv (789 cases), Kharkiv (712 cases), Khmelnytsky (506 cases), Donetsk (496 cases) and Zhytomyr (470 cases) regions. The next day, November 4, a new record number of cases, 9,524, was reported. Ukraine’s health minister said last month that Ukraine would introduce stricter lockdown restrictions if cases rise to 11,000-15,000 daily. He warned that the resources of the medical system would run out if the number of daily cases exceeds 20,000. (Ukrinform, Reuters)
Diplomats urge justice in Handzyuk case
Western diplomats have urged Kyiv to bring the planners and perpetrators of an acid attack that led to the death of Ukrainian anti-corruption activist Kateryna Handzyuk to justice two years after the brazen crime. Handzyuk died on November 4, 2018, three months after she suffered burns to over 30 percent of her body in an acid attack in front of her home. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv issued a statement via Facebook on the second anniversary of the activist’s death, saying, “We remember the dedication, will, and remarkable courage” of Handzyuk. “We join those urging authorities to bring to justice both her attackers and those who called for the attacks. Her memory is preserved in the growing acknowledgment that civil society is a critical part of any successful democracy,” the statement said. The EU delegation in Ukraine issued a similar statement via Twitter, emphasizing that individuals “responsible for this crime must be brought to justice” and that “[A] safe environment in Ukraine for civil society activists must be safeguarded across the country.” British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons also expressed hope that “justice will be served soon” for Handzyuk. She vowed that she will “raise the issue of her case” this week both in Handzyuk’s native city of Kherson and in Kyiv. The Canadian Embassy in Ukraine also issued a statement regarding the deadly attack on Handzyuk on Twitter. “There is no place for brutality and intimidation against activists, human rights defenders and media in Ukraine. Attacks on activists in Ukraine must stop, all crimes fully investigated, and those responsible brought to justice,” the Canadian Embassy added. The deadly attack on Handzyuk, a 33-year-old civil activist and adviser to the mayor of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, shocked people across Ukraine and abroad. In June 2019, five men were sentenced to prison terms of between three and six and a half years for organizing and executing the attack on Handzyuk based on a plea bargain. A year later, investigators arrested the head of the regional council, Vladyslav Manher, on suspicion of involvement in ordering the deadly attack. Manher has denied the accusations. (RFE/RL)
“Growing concern” over court ruling
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv says the European Union, the United States and several other nations are following with “growing concern” the developments surrounding the Ukrainian Constitutional Court’s recent ruling to abolish some anti-corruption laws. “We urge all parties to come together in dialogue, rise to the challenge and find a solution to the crisis. This is needed to restore people’s faith that the state is able both to fight corruption and continue Ukraine’s constitutionally enshrined European and Euro-Atlantic course,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement posted on Facebook on November 2. In its October 27 ruling, the Constitutional Court struck down some anti-corruption legislation and curbed the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Agency (NAZK), sparking tensions between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the opposition and Constitutional Court members. The president has asked the Verkhovna Rada to dissolve the Constitutional Court and restore the anti-corruption laws in question, saying the court’s move could jeopardize vital international economic aid. But the outcome of the vote in Parliament is uncertain. Mr. Zelenskyy on November 2 warned that the country could slide into chaos if Parliament does not reinstate anti-corruption reforms. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by Reuters and UNIAN)
G-7 “alarmed” by rollback of reforms
The Group of Seven leading industrialized countries says it is “alarmed” by the rollback of reforms in Ukraine after the Constitutional Court stripped the country’s anti-corruption agency of some of its critical powers. “The G-7 ambassadors are alarmed by efforts to undo the anti-corruption reforms that followed the Revolution of Dignity,” the group said in a statement on October 29, referring to the 2014 pro-Western Euro-Maidan uprising by its official name in Ukraine. “Too much progress has been made, Ukraine must not go back to the past,” the statement adds. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters and AFP)
IMF mission expected in mid-November
Ukraine Business News reported that Ukraine expects an IMF review mission to come to Kyiv in mid-November, as Yulia Kovaliv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s deputy chief of staff, told Bloomberg. Approval by the team would lead to the release of a $700 million tranche, a move that would trigger the release of an additional $1 billion in European Union and World Bank aid, said Ms. Kovaliv, who is in charge of cooperation with foreign donors. After Naftogaz pulled its $500 million Eurobond placement last week, Ms. Kovaliv said Ukraine will only return to the Eurobond market with an IMF program on track. Ukraine Business News reported: “Two issues cloud a resumption of IMF disbursements for Ukraine: the budget deficit and central bank independence. Through September, Ukraine’s budget deficit is $2.9 billion – four times greater that it was for the first nine months of last year, according to the State Treasury Service. About 80 percent of the deficit stems from the creation last April of a special fund to fight COVID. About half of this money ended up being spent on road construction.” The publication also noted that the matters of the central bank’s independence returned to the headlines with angry public statements by two board members who were reprimanded two weeks ago. Ukraine Business News reported: “Both members, Kateryna Rozhkova and Dmitro Sologub, are the only holdovers from the National Bank of Ukraine Board that carried out the massive bank clean-up of 2015-2017. Rather than leave quietly, Rozhkova, first deputy governor, posted a blast on her Facebook page yesterday. ‘Such a decision destroys collegiality and poses threats to the National Bank’s truly impartial decisions,’ she said, reacting to last week’s decision to strip her of almost all her power inside the central bank. ‘This does not comply with the principles of independence that were laid in the basis of the transformation of the National Bank in 2014-2015. I will remind you that this transformation was carried out with the IMF requirements.’ Sologub, also a deputy governor, tweeted that the attempted purge ‘was done in a murky and non-transparent way.’” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Russia sentences three Crimean Tatars
A court in Russia has sentenced three Crimean Tatars to lengthy prison terms on charges of being members of a banned Islamic group. The Southern Military Regional court in the city of Rostov-on-Don on November 3 sentenced Rustem Emiruseinov to 17 years, Arsen Abkhaitov to 13 years and Eskendir Abulganiyev to 12 years in prison. The three men were found guilty of being members of Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic, a group that has been labeled as extremist and banned in Russia, but is legal in Ukraine. They were arrested in February last year after police searched their homes in Ukraine’s Russia-annexed Crimea. Some 200 people gathered in front of the court’s building on November 3 to support the defendants. Police detained several of the gathered people, including three journalists. (Crimea Desk, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Naftogaz chief urges more U.S. sanctions
Ukraine’s natural-gas chief has urged the United States to expand sanctions aimed at stopping construction of a nearly complete Russian energy pipeline that would bring gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Andriy Kobolyev, the chief executive officer of state-owned Naftogaz, told RFE/RL in an interview on October 29 during a visit to Washington that he tied his trip to the U.S. capital to congressional discussions on a bill that would widen sanctions against the Kremlin-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline. There has been some concern that the bill, known as the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Clarification Act (PEESCA), could be dropped from the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act amid worries it could further hurt already strained U.S.-German relations. Nord Stream 2 runs from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine. The pipeline could potentially deprive Kyiv of billions of dollars in transit fees over the coming years if it is completed. PEESCA would widen the scope of sanctions to include any individual or entity providing insurance or welding services for the project as well as potentially anyone providing testing or inspection services. Mr. Kobolyev told RFE/RL he believes the additional sanctions “will completely stop this pipeline from being finished.” If Congress approves PEESCA, Mr. Kobolyev estimates Russia would need to increase the amount of natural gas it plans to ship to Europe through Ukraine next year by half. He said that Moscow had already inquired about increasing the volumes in 2021. (Todd Prince of RFE/RL)