- Back from the dead. A Ukrainian fugitive who was thought to have died has been found not only alive but leading a lavish lifestyle in France, European law enforcers announced on Oct. 16
- War rages on. Russian-led forces in the Donbas opened fire on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces 37 times over the past 24 hours, killing one Ukrainian soldier and wounding three more, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation headquarters reported on Oct. 16.
- Targeting speeding. Armed with new TruCam radar guns, Ukraine’s Patrol Police from Oct. 16 started fining drivers for breaking the 50 kilometers per hour speed limit. Speed limits have been laxly enforced in Ukraine since the disbanding of the the old traffic police, the DAI, while accidents involving speeding have been on the rise.
- New job. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or EBRD, has appointed Matteo Patrone as its new managing director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, the bank said on Oct. 16. Patrone will be based in Kyiv, the bank says.
- Budget season. The Verkhovna Rada will consider the budget resolution on Oct. 18, along with a number of bills to amend the state budget for the current year, Rada speaker Andriy Parubiy said on Oct. 16 at a meeting to set parliament’s agenda.
- Off the hook. Ukrainian lawmakers refused to give their consent to the prosecution of one of the leaders of the Opposition Bloc faction in parliament, Oleksandr Vilkul. According to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent, only 137 deputies voted for the proposal at a plenary meeting on Oct. 16, with at least 226 votes needed for the motion to be approved.
- A matter of time. Ilya Ponomarev, a former deputy of the Russian State Duma now exiled in Ukraine, said it was “100 percent certain” Ukraine would regain control over the Russian-occupied territory of Crimea. He also cast doubt on the likelihood of the Kremlin using the peninsula as a springboard for further aggression against Ukraine.
