Book case
The book "The Case of Vasyl Stus" by journalist and historian Vakhtang Kipiani sold out after Kyiv's Darnytskyy district court ordered a suspension of its distribution on the request of pro-Russian MP Viktor Medvedchuk, the Vivat publishing house has said. Earlier today, the court ruled that the book may not be distributed until "violations of the property rights of Opposition Platform-For Life political council head Viktor Medvedchuk are removed". Medvedchuk was the government-provided lawyer when the Soviet authorities arrested and sentenced Stus in 1980.
Coronavirus
By the morning of 19 October, Ukraine has registered 4,766 new Covid-19 cases over 24 hours. The case total since the start of the pandemic has reached 303,638.
Ukraine has allocated 571m hryvnyas in subventions to ensure oxygen supply at core hospitals treating coronavirus hospitals, the presidential office has said. The government is also working on arranging more beds in non-medical establishments in Kyiv, Odesa and Donetsk Region, such as at the institutes of the National Academy of Medical Sciences and Ukrzaliznytsya hospitals. They will be used in emergency situations.
A treatment course per coronavirus patient costs around 20,000 hryvnyas, according to the National Health Service. It a patient requires intensive therapy, the cost may double up to 40,000 hryvnyas.
The Health Ministry does not rule out that the daily virus infection rate, which includes both the coronavirus and flu, may reach 35,000 cases a day, the acting director of the Public Health Centre, Ihor Kuzin, has said, according to RBC-Ukraine.
On 20 October, parliament will suggest that the president of Ukraine create and head the National HQ for Counteraction to Biological Threats, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak has said on Telegram.
Iran air crash consultations
Ukraine welcomes Iran's decision to take responsibility for downing the Ukrainian passenger plane on 8 January 2020 and its readiness to pay equal compensations to all victims regardless of their citizenship, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Yenin has said after the consultations on the matter in Iran.
Local elections
The Opora election watchdog has said that the Hungarian secretary of state for national policy, Arpad Potapi, was campaigning for the Party of Hungarians of Ukraine dring his visit to Transcarpathian Region. Opora has called on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to produce an official reaction.
Donbas
A new checkpoint, Shchastya, on the line of contact in Luhansk Region will open on 10 November, the Joint Forces Operation has said. Its expected processing capacity is 10,000-15,000 persons per day.
Crime
The State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine has exposed financial operations which may have resulted In the laundering of 60.3bn hryvnyas over nine months of 2020.
A 17-year-old Israeli citizen was attacked in Uman, the Cherkasy regional police have said. According to the local Hasidic community leader, there were three attackers who cut the young man's face with a knife. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned the attack and demanded an investigation.
Ex-President Petro Poroshenko's lawyers have said that the Prosecutor-General's Office has refused to open a case against pro-Russian MP Andriy Derkach, whom the US Treasury earlier subjected to sanctions and described as a "Russian agent". The lawyers sought a case against Derkach for pulling Ukraine into the US election.