IMF
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission team and Ukraine's authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on an updated set of economic, financial, and structural policies to help address the economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19, while maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability, reducing vulnerabilities, and tackling key obstacles to private investment, the IMF said. Completion of the first review would enable disbursement of SDR 500 million (about US$ 700 million), it added.
Death
Late mayor Kostyantyn Pavlov's brother Andriy, 46, found dead in Kryvyy Rih today, the local news website Pervyy Gorodskoy has reported. His body was found in his flat by a friend.
Police said the death was not violent. The man allegedly complained about feeling unwell since yesterday.
Andriy Pavlov was the younger brother of Kryvyy Rih mayor Kostyanyn Pavlov, who was found dead with a gunwound on the doorstep of his home on 15 August.
Nato
Russia has no say in discussions about Ukraine's future Nato membership, therefore Kyiv is not interested in Moscow's opinion on the matter, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in response to the Kremlin's threats if Ukraine joins the Alliance.
"The worst-case scenario has already happened: the Russian Federation has attacked Ukraine, occupied our lands and kills our citizens. Therefore, we are not interested in Russia's opinion on Ukraine's accession to Nato," he tweeted.
Medvedchuk's case
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told ICTV that he knows the names of officials mentioned in the high treason case of MP Viktor Medvedchuk, but he will not name them until a court ruling on the case is issued.
Earlier, SBU chief Ivan Bakanov said that a number of former high-ranking officials were involved in the Medvedchuk case.
Ukraine to leave EU green list
Ukraine is set to be removed from the EU's recommended safe third country COVID-19 travel list later this week, journalist Rikard Jozwiak has tweeted.
"It was added in mid-July but a spike in recent cases means that the country won't make the list any longer," he explained.
Coronavirus hospitals packed
In Kherson and Odessa city hospitals, which receive Covid-19 patients, are almost 100% full, according to the local authorities. Residents of the city who fell ill with the coronavirus are now being hospitalised in neighbouring localities.
Donbas
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission continues its activities in the non-government-controlled part of Luhansk Region, despite the termination of its work in occupied Donetsk, the DOM TV channel has said, citing the OSCE press service.
Since the beginning of this year, 55 Ukrainian servicemen have been killed in action in eastern Ukraine, Radio Liberty has reported, quoting the public liaison office of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"From 1 January 2021 to 17 October 2021 (during combat operations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions - ed.) 55 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed, 217 were wounded (injured)," the press service of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
Potential dismissal
Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Roman Abramovskyy has written a resignation letter, the head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamiya, has said at a faction meeting, according to MP Danylo Hetmantsev.
"We have not actually seen the statement yet. The parliamentary leadership has not seen the statement either," Hetmantsev noted though.
Abramovskyy was appointed minister for environmental protection and natural resources in June 2020.
MP's expulsion
The Servant of the People faction has decided to initiate the expulsion of its member, MP Lyudmyla Buymister. According to MP Lyudmyla Paliychuk, the decision was taken at the faction meeting.
Buymister was elected from a single-seat constituency constituency (No 223) rather than on the party list, therefore she will not lose her mandate if she is expelled from the faction. She did not support the presidential bill on de-oligarchisation in both readings. Neither did she vote for Dmytro Razumkov's dismissal as speaker.
Expo 2030
Ukraine's ambassador to France Vadym Omelchenko has solemnly handed over the application of the Government of Ukraine for participation in the selection of candidate country for hosting the World Expo 2030 to the Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions, Dimitrios Kerkentzes, the Ukrainian embassy in France has said on Facebook.
Africa
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has held a telephone conversation with South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor.
The conversation was the first contact between the Ukrainian and South African foreign ministers since 1998, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service has said.
"The ministers agreed to resume a full-fledged bilateral dialogue, hold political consultations between the foreign ministries, develop trade, scientific and technical cooperation," it noted.
Security drill
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has held a multi-stage counterterrorism exercise in the border areas of Vinnytsya Region. The drill focused on the search and neutralization of several sabotage groups simultaneously near the border at night, it said.
The commandos neutralized members of the suspected sabotage and reconnaissance groups who were planning to carry out explosions at the facilities of the Dniester hydro-technical cascade and flee to the self-proclaimed Dniester region, and also carried out a special operation to free "hostages".