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Scoop of the day: Joint inspection in Donbas cancelled

Scoop of the day: Joint inspection in Donbas cancelled

Donbas

Amid public roar, the presidential office has said the joint inspection of Ukrainian positions near the village of Shumy in Donetsk Region has been cancelled due to contradictory and "constantly changing requests of the Russian side".

Russia-backed militants violated the ceasefire by opening fire from small arms against the Ukrainian positions near Shumy where the so-called joint inspection was to take place, the Joint Forces Operation HQ has said. The fire was aimed at the area where representatives of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination of Ceasefire and the OSCE were to meet.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have discussed the situation in Donbas and Belarus over the phone. He also thanked Germany for its efforts aimed at a peaceful settlement in Donbas. According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine has aligned itself with the EU statement on the Belarusian presidential election.

Foreign policy

The US Treasury has designated Andrii Derkach for his efforts to influence the 2020 US presidential election. Derkach, a Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, has been an active Russian agent for over a decade, maintaining close connections with the Russian Intelligence Services, it said. "Andrii Derkach and other Russian agents employ manipulation and deceit to attempt to influence elections in the United States and elsewhere around the world," said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. 

The secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, and the chief of the Naitonal Security Bureau of Poland, Pawel Soloch, have agreed to launch a new format of cooperation similar to the Lublin Triangle. They also discussed the situation in Belarus. Danilov expressed concern that if Russia steps up its interference in Belarus's internal affairs, it may have adverse consequences for Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the Jerusalem Post that Ukraine was exploring the "possibility" of opening "a trade office in Jerusalem", though moving the embassy to the capital is "currently not on our agenda".

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed Yevhen Korniychuk as ambassador to Israel and Petro Vrublevskyy as ambassador to Kazakhstan. Korniychuk was Ukraine's vice-consul in New York in 1993-1998 and Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc's MP in 2006-2008. Vrublevskyy was minister-counsellor and acting head of Ukraine's embassy in Belarus.

Crime

The Interior Ministry will expel two Hasidic Jews who broke security fencing near the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, which was installed as part of coronavirus preventive measures.

Environment

The Delfi oil tanker which ran aground near Odesa last November and has been spilling oil since then has finally been removed.

Coronavirus

By the morning of 10 September, Ukraine has registered 2,582 new cases, 44 deaths and 1,174 recoveries. Overall, Ukraine has logged in 145,612 coronavirus cases.

Kyiv will move from a safer yellow zone to an orange one as of 14 September due to the growing number of Covid-19 cases. This will entail the closure of fitness centres, gyms and entertainment centres.

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