Coronavirus
The Cabinet of Ministers has imposed temporary restrictions on entry into Ukraine by citizens of several South African countries to counter the spread of the Omicron coronavirus strain. The new regulations will take effect from midnight on 3 December. The countries concerned are South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia and several other.
Joint statement
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Polish President Andrzej Duda approved a joint statement following talks in the Lublin Triangle format on Thursday.
According to the press service of the presidential office, in the statement the presidents of Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland called on the international community to strengthen sanctions against the Russian Federation over its continued aggression against Ukraine and once again called on the Kremlin to de-escalate the situation by withdrawing its troops from Ukraine's borders and temporarily occupied territories.
In particular, the sides reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters.
Sanctions on Russia
European countries are preparing a package of economic sanctions to be applied to Russia in case of large-scale aggression against Ukraine, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said after the OSCE ministerial meeting.
"Right now various diplomatic capitals are holding a very concrete and substantive conversation about specific economic sanctions that will be included in this deterrence package. This is the main topic of our two days," Kuleba said on Facebook.
Donbas
Russia is trying to hold Ukraine responsible for the violation of the Minsk agreements and degradation of the situation in Donbas, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said following the OSCE ministerial meeting.
"Yesterday it started at the ministers' working dinner, today it continued at the ministerial meeting, but it is perfectly clear to everyone who is violating the Minsk agreements, shelling positions, killing Ukrainian soldiers, blocking the Normandy format, the TCG and the OSCE," Kuleba said on Facebook.
Donbas fatality
A soldier of the 93rd detached mechanized brigade, Valeriy Herovkin, was killed by an enemy sniper near Novotroyitske on 1 December, the brigade's press service has said.
Separatist activity
Following orders from the Kremlin, the Russian occupying troops have recently increased their activity in the area of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO), Lt-Gen Oleksandr Pavlyuk, commander of the Joint Forces Operation, said in an interview with Radio Liberty.
"Recently, the activity of these units has been increasing. We can see a clear command from the Kremlin to increase activity in order to force not only Ukraine to agree to their terms, but probably the whole world as well. We are used to it, we are calm about it. We give a good response. These waves - they happen periodically and quickly subside only after we respond," he said.
Bills on citizenship
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted to parliament a number of bills on multiple citizenship he announced yesterday.
Initial draft law No 6368 is called "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Citizenship of Ukraine" regarding the grounds and procedure for the acquisition and termination of Ukrainian citizenship".
In addition, a draft law "On preventing and counteracting threats to the national security of Ukraine in the sphere of citizenship" has been presented.
It contains levers against the use of citizenship of another state as a tool for interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine, infringement on the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Iceland
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the government of Iceland signed an agreement on air communication.
The document defines the procedure for regulating international flights between the two countries and the assignment of airlines, establishes conditions for granting permits for regular flights, provides for mutual recognition of crew members' certificates, contains aviation safety provisions; establishes a mechanism for inspection of airlines to assess their compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization standards.
Naftogaz
Naftogaz board member and former advisor to its chairman Yuriy Vitrenko, Mavrikyy Kaluhin, has become chief executive of Naftogaz Group.
Serhiy Boyev, who had previously been head of Naftogaz Ukrayiny's strategy and business analytics department, took the post of Naftogaz Group's director for strategy and business development.
Crime
Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyy district court has passed the verdict in the murder case of former Russian MP Denis Voronenkov.
The court found Yaroslav Tarasenko guilty of complicity in the murder, who, according to the investigation, was the driver of the killer. The panel also found him guilty of illegal possession of a firearm found during a search.
According to Hraty, the court sentenced Tarasenko to 12 years in prison.
At the same time, the board acquitted the second defendant, Kharkiv resident Oleksandr Los, who was previously convicted of robbery. According to the prosecutor's office, he had been following the former MP on the eve of his murder. The panel ruled that his guilt was not proven.