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Scoop of the day: Protests against controversial language bill

Scoop of the day: Protests against controversial language bill

Declaration of Sovereignty anniversary

In a speech at the solemn parliament session on the 30th anniversary of the Declaration of Ukraine's State Sovereignty, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine "has been defending its sovereignty from Russian aggression for six years in a row".

Language bill

MPs plan to discuss the bill, authored by pro-Russian MP Maksym Buzhanskyy, which may cancel a requirement that 80% of studies in Ukrainian schools must be in Ukrainian. The bill has already stirred protests and has been criticized by the language ombudsman.

In a speech from the parliament rostrum, Academician Ihor Yukhnovskyy has called on Zelenskyy "not to corrode the authority of the previous presidents" and defend the Ukrainian language. "Let your predecessor be your advisor and support," he said.

Ex-President Petro Poroshenko has condemned the language bill as an attempt at revenge by Zelensky's party "in coalition with the pro-Kremlin political forces", which will fail.

Photo: Max Trebukhov

Thousands rallied outside parliament this morning to express their opposition to Buzhanskyy's language bill.

Crimea

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has condemned the restrictions on the travel of Ukrainians from occupied Crimea which were introduced by Russia. In particular, Crimeans who did not acquire Russian citizenship may leave the peninsula but will not be able to return.

Kyiv election

MP Iryna Vereshchuk has won the Servant of the People primaries and will run for Kyiv mayor as the party's candidate, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said at a briefing with party head Oleksandr Korniyenko and faction head Davyd Arakhamiya.

Polls

Some 32% approve of the decision to ban Communist symbols while 34% disapprove, a survey by the Democratic Initiatives foundation has found. There were 26.3% said they did not care and 7.7% failed to answer the question.

Appointments

MPs have appointed the board chairman of Ukrgasbank, Kyrylo Shevchenko, as governor of the National Bank of Ukraine. He pledged to curb inflation and maintain the NBU's independence.

Parliament has appointed a former head of the State Space Agency, Oleh Uruskyy, deputy prime minister and minister for strategic industries.

Olha Pishchanska has been appointed head of the Antimonopoly Committee.

Parliament has accepted the resignation of the head of its apparatus, Vyacheslav Shtuchnyy.

Donbas

The occupiers have been planting POM-2 stake-mounted anti-personnel fragmentation mines, which are banned by international treaties, in Donbas, the Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation HQ said said. Russia is the only manufacturer of these mines.

Crime

Investigators of the State Investigation Bureau detained a Cherkasy city councilor who ordered the murder of the city's deputy head. Law enforcers ran a special operation during which they imitated the murder of the city's deputy head and caught the mastermind during the transfer of the reward.

Health

Ukraine has registered 848 new coronavirus cases, bringing their total number since the start of the epidemic to 56,455, according to the Health Ministry. There have been 28,931 recoveries and 1,445 deaths.

President Zelenskyy has spoken against an extension of quarantine by more than one month. "Everyone is tired of this quarantine. A clear framework is necessary on how it is to be extended," he said.

Only 28.3% of Ukrainian children have been vaccinated from measles and 30% from polio, the Public Health Centre has reported. It called on parents to catch up on the vaccination schedule.

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