Page 9 - UKRRptOct21

was a cause of concern. Also, freedom of expression did not meet international standards due to the sanctions imposed upon Taras Kozak and the subsequent closures of TV channels such as ZIK.
Turkish unmanned combat aerial vehicles (drones) to be produced in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said there will be an announcement when the heads of both states meet 112.international. The construction of the Turkish medium-altitude long-endurance combat aerial vehicles will be undertaken at the Bayraktar plant.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly, President Zelensky said that the UN can help to liberate Ukrainian territories. "We must not only speak but also demand appropriate action. We are looking for solutions in Donbas and Crimea, at all sites. Yes, the UN is one of the main sites and we should not miss this opportunity," Zelensky said during his visit to the U.S. "It is very important for us that the UN recognizes the Crimea Platform. I think we can talk about the support of Ukraine by our partners at this very difficult time," Zelensky concluded.
For the first time since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, it held elections on the territory of the disputed peninsula. According to the Atlantic Council, the elections have been a source of contention between Russia and the international community. OSCE election observers refused to monitor the polls in Crimea, and the US and EU condemned them on September 18 as being both illegal and illegitimate. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland announced the illegality of the Russian parliamentary elections in occupied Crimea, and also condemned the large-scale provision of Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens, and the organization of electronic voting in Donbas. Turkey also does not recognize the results of the Russian parliamentary elections, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on its website.
So far only 17% of Ukraine’s adults are vaccinated, one of the lowest levels in Europe. Last week, of the 947 people hospitalized in Kharkiv with Covid, only 3.5% were vaccinated, Mykhailo Cherniak, deputy head of the regional administration, reported. “The pandemic is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” he told the region’s press service. “None of the vaccinated are in the intensive care unit, nor among the dead.”
Six months after Ukraine’s vaccination campaign started in earnest, 56% of Ukrainians do not plan to get a Covid-19 vaccine, and 52% object to compulsory vaccination, according to a poll by the the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Fund. Leading objections were: the vaccines are not fully tested, the side effects could be unpleasant, and objection to state-imposed vaccines.
Since January, the government has spent $1 billion to fight Covid, the Finance Ministry says. Last Friday, the Ukraine’s State Security Service, or SBU said it dismantled a ‘Russia-sponsored’ network of 5,000 internet bots tasked with “discrediting” and “disrupting” Ukraine's vaccine program.
Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba has confirmed that Ukraine and the United States are discussing the delivery of the Iron Dome mobile
9 UKRAINE Country Report October 2021 www.intellinews.com