Hired heavies
The police have found guns and grenades during a search in Kyiv's Tverskyy cul-de-sac where the far-right National Corps said it had blocked a base of heavies hired by the pro-Russian Opposition Platform-For Life party.
According to National Corps leader Andriy Biletskyy, the party associated with Putin's friend Viktor Medvedchuk paid the heavies for staging acts of provocation and destabilizing the situation in the country.
Opposition Platform-For Life MP Illya Kyva, for his part, accused the National Corps of a provocation and said that young athletic men came to take part in a sports competition held by Patriots for Life NGO.
Human rights
Serviceman and rock musician Andriy Antonenko (Riffmaster) will stay in custody after the Kyiv court of appeal refused to release him today. Antonenko is one of the suspects in the 2016 murder case of journalist Pavel Sheremet. Prosecutors have hardly provided any solid evidence of his involvement since his detention in December 2019.
Coronavirus
The Cabinet of Ministers has banned the registration and use of any Russian vaccines or other immunobiologicals in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said in an interview with Politico that Russia is using its Sputnik V vaccine to put political pressure on eastern Ukraine and Eastern Europe.
Sinovac has filed an application for the state registration of its Covid-19 vaccine under the recognizance of its urgent medical application, the Ukrainian Health Ministry has said. The vaccine has already been permitted for urgent use in Turkey, Brazil, China and Indonesia.
The European Commission is helping Poland legally and logistically to re-sell Ukraine 1.2m doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in addition to 117,000 Pfizer doses and 2.2-2.7m AstraZeneca doses which Ukraine expects to receive under the COVAX facility, EC Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis has said at a joint news conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
On 3 February, the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine registered a criminal case based on its Public Supervision Council's request to check a contract on the purchase of Sinovac's Biotech vccine for 17.85 dollars per dose through a private intermediary.
On the morning of 10 February, Ukraine reported 3,409 new Covid-19 cases, 7,768 recoveries and 163 deaths.
USA
Igor Novikov, a former adviser for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has provided TIME with the contents of the 40-minute call during which Rudy Giuliani demanded probes that could help his client, then-President Donald Trump, win another term in office. According to TIME, the transcript "provides the clearest picture yet of Giuliani’s attempts to pressure the Ukrainians on Trump’s behalf". TIME adds that Novikov says he is willing to assist an ongoing federal investigation of Giuliani that is reportedly underway in New York, as well as a separate effort to strip Giuliani of his license to practice law.
Donbas
A Ukrainian serviceman was wounded by sniper fire near Pisky today, the East operational command has said.
Military
The USA has provided Ukraine with 10 patrol cutters and 70 inflatable boats. The handover took place at the South naval base in Odesa today.
Ukraine hopes for NATO's support in monitoring the air situation along the border with Russia and proposes that NATO use the airspace in Simferopol District for air operations, Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy has said at a meeting with NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning Patrick Turner in Brussels.
Snap election?
European Solidarity HQ head Oleksandr Turchynov has told the BBC Ukrainian that ex-President Petro Poroshenko might agree to chair the government, but this would require a snap parliamentary election.
Economy
Exclusive: Ukraine's foreign debt is three times higher than the average for countries with low or medium income, which creates additional risks to the economy, Tetyana Bohdan, research director at Growford Institute, has said at a roundtable "Financialization of the world economy and increase of the global debt: challenges and opportunities for Ukraine". The event was co-organised by Growford Institute and Gorshenin Institute with the LB.ua support.
Crime
The National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine has opened a criminal case over the sale of underpriced electricity by state-owned companies. Searches are underway at the national atomic energy operator Enerhoatom.
Over 100 Ukrainian and Moldovan nationals have been stopped over several days at the Polish border for carrying fake Polish work permits, according to the Polish Radio. They agreed to a six-month custody with a two-year probation term and had to return to Ukraine.
Media
A survey by the Rating pollster, held on 6-8 February, has found that 49% of Ukrainians approve the authorities' decision to shut down the pro-Russian TV channels 112 Ukrayina, NewsOne and ZIK. Some 41% disapprove and 11% cannot make up their mind.
Snow
Kyiv has decided to close kindergartens and schools on 11-12 February amid heavy snow which hit the capital on 8 and early 10 February. Classes will be moved online wherever possible because of more snow in the forecast.