Coronavirus
Ukraine has reported yet another daily record of 5,992 new cases by the morning of 16 October. Over 24 hours, 106 people have died and 2,269 recovered. The case total since the start of the pandemic has reached 287,231.
The US embassy's charge d'affaires Kristina Kvien hosted a collegial dinner with Health Minister Maksym Stepanov to discuss perspectives on fighting COVID-19 and health sector reform. "Ukraine will NOT be buying Russia’s COVID vaccine, which has not passed clinical trials for safety!" the embassy said on Facebook.
Turkey
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a working visit to Istanbul.
Zelensky thanked Turkey for supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and invited Ankara to join the Crimean Platform, a new forum for consolidating international efforts on the deoccupation of Crimea.
Ukraine and Turkey have signed a framework military agreement that outlines the areas and principles of defence cooperation.
Ukraine and Turkey have signed a memorandum of intent to cooperate in defence industry projects. In particular, they plan to launch and implement joint projects on the manufacturing of combat ships, UAVs and all types of turbine engines.
Zelenskyy also met Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and invited him to visit Ukraine.
Poll
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the three remaining questions he wants to ask Ukrainians during a poll to be held on 25 October, local elections day. In particular, he wants to learn whether the number of MPs should be cut to 300; whether they support legalisation of cannabis for medical purposes; and whether Ukraine should raise the issue of using the security guarantees provided by the Budapest memorandum at the international level.
Donbas
Russia-backed militants breached the ceasefire once on 16 October, the Joint Forces Operation HQ said. They fired with a grenade launcher and small arms near Vodyane.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov has said that Ukraine signed the Minsk agreements under great pressure and cannot comply with the provisions on holding elections in the occupied territories until full control over its border is restored, according to Ukrinform.
Economy
Miners at the Kryvyy Rih Iron Ore Mill have ended their underground strike and come to the surface following negotiations with the management, according to the leader of the Independent Trade Union of Ukrainian Miners, Mykhaylo Volynets. The protesters which began their strike on 3 September demanded a pay rise and better working conditions.
The State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine has announced a partnership with Huawei but later removed the report to this effect from its website. It initially said that the sides had signed a memorandum on cooperation in cybersecurity and telecommunications.
Crime
Odesa's Prymorskyy district court has founded Ihor Pavlovskyy guilty of non-reporting the crime against Kherson activist Kateryna Handzyuk and handed down a suspended two-year sentence on him. During the trial, he pleaded guilty. Handzyuk died in a hospital in November 2018 after she was splashed with acid. Pavlovskyy is believed to be an intermediary between the customers for and perpetrators of the murder.