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Scoop of the weekend: Ukraine remembers Euromaydan, elects local mayors

Scoop of the weekend: Ukraine remembers Euromaydan, elects local mayors

Maydan commemoration

On 21 November, the day the Orange Revolution and the Euromaydan protests began in 2004 and 2013 respectively, Ukraine marked Day of Dignity and Freedom.

"Today we must not only remember the key moments of our history, but also learn important lessons. For people, revolution is the path to desired change. For politicians, it is the path to the desired posts. So, together with you, not listening to old politicians, we have to continue the difficult construction of a really new Ukraine every day. Free and worthy. Where the law will always come first, not surnames or past merits," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his speech on the occasion.

The fallen protesters were commemorated with a prayer in Kyiv's Heavenly Hundred Alley and a flower-laying ceremony.

Local elections

Mayoral runoffs and repeat elections were held in several cities and towns in Ukraine on 22 November.

Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov (Proposition) Borys Filatov has won another term in office with 78.75% of the vote, according to an exit poll by the Socis pollster. His opponent Zahid Krasnov (Civic Force) scored 18.25%.

Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyy is winning over Oleh Synyutka (European Solidarity) with 62.8% to 37.2%, according to an exit poll by Liberty Report.

Cherkasy mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko defeated his runner-up 54.25% to 45.7%, according to an exit poll by Liberty Report.

Mykolayiv mayor Oleksandr Senkevych (Proposition) is tipped to be re-elected, having scored 61.6%m according to an exit poll. Vladyslav Chayka of Opposition Platform-For Life has 38.4%.

In Rivne, the leader of the Rivne Razom party, Viktor Shakyrzyan, is likely to be elected mayor with 50.94%. His opponent Oleksandr Tretyak of the European Solidarity party has 46.03%, according to an exit poll whose results were announced by Pryamyy TV.

Opposition Bloc Vadym Lyakh has been re-elected Slovyansk mayor with 58.8% of the vote, according to an exit poll by Research&Branding Group. His opponent from Opposition Platform-For Life, Pavlo Prydvorov, scored 41.2%.

Coronavirus

According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, there is no set date for Ukraine to move into a hard lockdown as currently it is Plan B which will be enacted if the weekend quarantine does not help the infection dynamics.

Earlier, the Health Ministry said that it would request the government to announce a tougher lockdown if the daily infection rate exceeds 30,000 cases.

On the morning of 22 November, Ukraine reported 12,079 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 624,744. There were 138 fatalities and 4,604 recoveries registered in 24 hours.

With the latest increment of 137 new cases, there are currently 2,866 active Covid-19 cases in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 6,124 recoveries and 25 fatalities.

Protest

Around 150 cars took part in a motorcade which visited the Feofaniya hospital in Kyiv, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is being treated from the coronavirus, on 21 November. The activists, representing the Movement of Resistance to Capitulation, the Democratic Axe, Freedom, the National Corps among others, demanded that the president address the constitutional crisis, political reprisals, the work of the trilateral contact group and the Covid-19 epidemic.

Vendors from Odesa's enormous market 7th Kilometre has staged a protest against the weekend quarantine. They blocked the road, demanding a meeting with local authorities. Their trade union suggested an infinite hunger strike. The protesters called on the country's authorities not to ruin small and medium-sized businesses.

Foreign Ministry

Oleh Nikolenko has replaced Kateryna Zelenko as spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

Dismissal

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed the head of the Chernihiv district state administration, Serhiy Zhurman, who was detained accepting a 10,000-dollar bribe in early November. According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), he extorted the bribe for changing the designation of a 6-hectare land plot.

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