Donbas
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Special Operations Forces Commander Lt-Gen Ihor Lunyov and replaced him with Maj-Gen Hryhoriy Halahan. He said that the Special Operations Forces should be ready to foil provocations by Russia-backed militants.
In an interview with Euronews TV, he said that the war in Donbas would be over by the end of year. He is pinning high hopes on a meeting of the French, German, Russian and Ukrainian leaders in the so-called Normandy Four format, tentatively scheduled for this autumn.
A meeting of the Normandy Four presidential advisers, which was scheduled to be held in Paris on 28 August, has been postponed until a later day because of French delegate Emmanuel Bonn's business trip, according to Zelenskyy's website.
The 14th detached mechanized brigade reported the death of Lt Sen. Volodymyr Rudyk, presumably as a result of mishandling weapons in Luhansk Region on 22 August.
Two Ukrainian servicemen moving between strongpoints were wounded after setting off an unidentified explosive device. They are in hospital in satisfactory condition, the Joint Forces Operation HQ said.
Coronavirus
Ukraine has registered 1,658 new cases by the morning of 26 August, including 25 deaths and 346 recoveries. The total count has thus reached 108,415 cases, including 2,318 fatalities.
The Cabinet of Ministers has suggested that the adaptive quarantine should be extended until 1 November due to the continuous increase in the number of new cases. Zelenskyy supported the move and said that it may be necessary to ban concerts and close night clubs.
Fatherland Yuliya Tymoshenko, who was reported to have contracted the coronavirus, is undergoing intensive therapy, according to her press secretary Maryna Soroka. There are unverified reports that she is on lung ventilation.
Zelenskyy's former comic troupe company colleague, actress Olena Kravets tested positive for the coronavirus.
Zelenskyy called on rabbis to try and prevent large crowds from forming during the celebration of Rosh Hashanah in Uman in late September. Otherwise Ukraine risks a "colossal collapse" in terms of coronavirus cases.
Sheremet's case
Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyy district court has decided that a jury will hear the case of Andriy Antonenko, Yana Duhar and Yuliya Kuzmenko suspected of involvement in the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet. The case will be heard on 4 September. The court also decided to leave Antonenko in custody at least until 23 October.
Economy
The National Bank of Ukraine has declared Arkada Bank insolvent after its capital shrank to less than one third of the required minimum. Over 90% of the bank's depositors are expected to be able to claim back their deposits in full because their size does not exceed the guaranteed amount of 200,000 hryvnyas.
MPs voted in favour of increasing minimum wage to 5,000 hryvnyas as of September.
Law enforcement
Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova has dismissed former top prosecutor Svyatoslav Piskun as her freelance adviser less than a month after his appointment.
Incident
A major believed to be drink-driving has hit three female cadets on the premises of a Kyiv college. The cadets were rushed to an army hospital in a serious condition, one of them risking losing both legs.
Curious case
According to graphic designer Bohdan Hdal, the word "coupon" on the banknotes Ukraine used in the 1990s was written in the Playboy 1975 font. He recalled that fairly recently allegations were made about the National Bank of Ukraine using some fonts on its 1,000-hryyvnya note without copyright. The bank dismissed the allegations but promised to change its approach to hryvnya redesign.
Preview
Exclusive: Gorshenin Institute will host a roundtable "Regional policy: new priorities for economic growth of the regions" on 10:00 a.m. local time on 27 September. The speakers include Minister for the Development of Communities and Territories Oleksiy Chernyshov, Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Transformation Minister Mykhaylo Fedorov, and the head of the Kyiv regional state administration, Vasyl Volodin.