Ukraine

Ukraine battles massive fires in Luhansk region

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KYIV – At the end of September, forest fires broke out in many parts of the Luhansk region. By October 1, a total of 146 fires were discovered by the State Emergency Service. In the week since the fires broke out, the disaster took 11 lives, injured 19 people and caused the evacuation of 150 people. Thirty-two settlements were endangered.

More than 2,000 personnel and over 200 units of equipment were involved in the firefighting, according to the First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Serhii Yarovyy.

“On September 30, a difficult situation arose in the Luhansk region due to the spread of fires. The State Emergency Service and the State Forest Resources Agency are working at 30 spots of the blaze. The total area covered by the fire is more than 11,000 hectares,” Mr. Yarovyy said on October 1.

Ukraine

Ukraine prepares for nationwide local elections

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KYIV – On September 5, Ukraine officially entered the electoral period during which candidates and parties are allowed to campaign. Fifty days later, on October 25, local elections will take place across the country. For the first time, voters will choose leaders of united territorial communities, a new form of the administrative cell created by decentralization reform. As in previous local elections, Ukrainians will also elect deputies to village, settlement and city councils, deputies to raion councils, and deputies to 22 oblast councils.

Due to the temporary occupation of Crimea and some districts of the Donbas region, no elections will be held in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Sevasto­pol, and the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Ukraine

Ukraine remembers Heorhiy Gongadze, opposition journalist killed 20 years ago

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KYIV – Each year, on September 16, Ukrainians remember Heorhiy Gongadze, who was kidnapped and murdered on that date in 2000. The Georgian-born Ukrainian journalist founded one of the first online media outlets in the country, Ukrayinska Pravda. Twenty years after Gongadze’s murder, Ukrainian journalists and human rights activists continue to demand security for journalists and that those who ordered the murders of Ukrainian journalists be brought to justice.

On the occasion of the solemn anniversary, a memorial plaque to Gongadze was erected on the façade of the National Union of Journalists’ building in Kyiv. The unveiling of this commemorative plaque on September 16 marked the beginning of a week in memory of Ukrainian journalists who have died in the line of duty. The premiere of the film “Gongadze’s Murder. 20 Years in Search of Truth” also took place on September 16 on the Ukrainian public channel.

Ukraine

Thousand-year-old St. Sophia Cathedral is focus of new preservation efforts

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KYIV – The administration of the National Sanctuary Complex “Sophia of Kyiv,” together with patrons of the historic preserve’s renovation, on September 16 presented a project to drain the foundations and walls of St. Sophia Cathedral and adjacent monasteries of excessive moisture, thus saving them for future generations.

The process is to be implemented with innovative Swiss equipment, called the BioDry system, that is used for natural restoration of a proper level of humidity. The equipment will help restore the microclimate in the cathedral buildings and eliminate excessive moisture. Similar technology is used to preserve cultural heritage sites around the world.

Ukraine

Russian forces breach truce, killing Ukrainian soldier in Donbas

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KYIV – On September 6, on the 42nd day of the “full and comprehensive ceasefire,” armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the agreements reached by the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) and twice attacked Ukrainian positions. As a result of the second breach of the truce, one serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was killed.

The enemy opened fire with small arms on the Joint Forces units’ positions near Prychepylivka in the Luhansk region. As the Joint Forces Operation press center reported, “In response to the shelling, Joint Forces used available firearms and repulsed the Russian armed forces. The losses of the enemy are being clarified.”

Ukraine

Ukraine celebrates 29th anniversary of re-establishment of independence

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KYIV – Ukraine celebrated the 29th anniversary of the re-establishment of its independence on August 24 with an address to the nation by the president, festive events on St. Sophia Square and the unofficial March of Defenders of Ukraine.

As Ukraine geared up for the festivities, the COVID-19 situation in the country was worsening. The number of coronavirus cases had been setting records almost every day, and Ukraine ranked third in Europe in terms of the number of newly infected people. Nonetheless, the main difference between the 2020 celebrations and previous years’ Independence Days was the occasional mask regime, which is impossible to enforce in large crowds.

Ukraine

Ukrainian activists support Belarusian people’s protests

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KYIV – Since the beginning of massive protests in Belarus that began after presidential election results considered to be falsified were announced, declaring that incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka was the winner, Belarusian and Ukrainian activists have gathered almost daily in front of the Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv.

Protesters in Kyiv have expressed their solidarity with demonstrators in Belarus and have demanded that the results of voting conducted at the Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv be published. That has not happened. However, Belarusians who live in Ukraine’s capital say that votes from the Kyiv polling station are mostly in favor of opposition candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to leave Belarus in the aftermath of the election’s conclusion on August 9.

Analysis

As Belarus is reborn, Ukraine holds its breath

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KYIV – Belarus is in revolt and a new Belarusian political nation has been born before our very eyes. The implications are far-reaching. Not only for the Belarusians themselves, but their diverse neighbors, Europe generally and even beyond.

So, what does this mean, at least for now, for Ukraine, Belarus’s southern neighbor? What was the state of bilateral relations before and after the critical presidential election of August 9, which tens of thousands of Belarusians throughout their country believe were rigged and deprived them of peaceful democratic change?

Ukraine

Verkhovna Rada replaces 490 raions with 136 new districts nationwide

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KYIV – On July 17 a big step in decentralization was taken by the Ukrainian Parliament: for the first time since the Soviet era, the borders and centers of administrative units across the country were changed. Those units are called “raions,” and only a few weeks ago, Ukraine had 490 of them incorporated into 24 oblasts and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Now those oblasts and Crimea have only 136 raions (districts) encompassing different territories, populations and administrative centers.

This massive change comes only three months before local elections, when deputies and heads of raion councils will be chosen.

Ukraine

Russian occupying forces violate ceasefire in the Donbas 19 minutes after its start
Full ceasefire went into effect July 27

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KYIV – As of 12:01 a.m. on July 27, a full and comprehensive ceasefire went into effect in the area of armed conflict in the Donbas region. The decision was adopted on July 22, at a regular meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Coooperation in Europe). All parties approved the ceasefire agreement, however, Russian proxies fired upon Ukrainian positions at 12:20 a.m. – 19 minutes after the start of the ceasefire.

As of 7:30 p.m. on July 27, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission recorded 111 ceasefire violations in the Donetsk region, including 21 explosions. According to the commander-in-chief of the Joint Forces, Volodymyr Kravchenko, the Ukrainian armed forces did not respond to the shelling.