Coronavirus
By the morning of 26 August, Ukraine has registered 1,670 new cases whose total number has now reached 110,085. Since the start of the epidemic, 2,354 patients have died and 53,454 have recovered.
The Cabinet of Ministers has extended the adaptive quarantine until 31 October. It tightened the regulations by banning the work of discos, night clubs and public eateries offering entertainment, as well as concerts. Ukraine has been under quarantine since March.
Ukraine will close its border to foreigners until the end of September with a number of exceptions due to a surge in coronavirus cases, according to the Cabinet of Ministers' initiative. Ukraine already took this step from 16 March to 12 June.
Ukraine will open checkpoints on its administrative border with Crimea as of 29 August, the Kyiv-based office of the president's representative in Crimea has reported. The checkpoints were closed on 9 August to prevent a spike in coronavirus cases.
USA
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have discussed the situation in Donbas and Belarus over the phone. Zelenskyy said that the ceasefire in Donbas had been holding in particular thanks to US and European support.
US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun has arrived in Ukraine. On 24-27 August, he is on a diplomatic tour of Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine and Austria.
Donbas
The Joint Forces Operation HQ has said that two Ukrainian servicemen got wounded by a POM-2 anti-personnel landmine on 25 August as a result of enemy provocation. The HQ said that the enemy used a drone to drop a VOG-17 fragmentation grenade on the evening of 24 August. The two servicemen were checking the area when they set off the POM-2.
Government
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the nomination of Andriy Nazarenko for head of the Kirovohrad regional state administration and Serhiy Serhiychuk for head of the Cherkasy regional state administration. Nazarenko was the director of the regional centre for investment and development and head of the municipal enterprise Regional Service for the Protection and Restoration of Urban Development and Architecture Landmarks. Serhiychuk is a former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The two are to be approved by the president.
The Cabinet of Ministers has appointed Volodymyr Zhmak as board chairman of the Ukrainian Railways company (Ukrzaliznytsya). He was a member of the supervisory board at Boryspil International Airport.
Human rights
Exclusive: Taras Bezpalyy, the lawyer of surgeon Yuliya Kuzmenko, one of the suspects in the murder case of journalist Pavlo Sheremet, has filed two complaints with the European Court of Human Rights. In the first complaint, he contested her detention illegal, while the second one concerns violations during the pre-trial investigation.
Local elections
Former Dynamo Kyiv goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovskyy will run for the Kyiv city council on the list of the UDAR party of Vitaliy Klitschko. The party will not form any alliances during the election campaign.
Crime
A colonel of one of the regional offices of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has been caught red-handed while selling the data of private mobile communication conversations. He collected this data illegally, the Prosecutor-General's Office said.