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referring to comments made at the World Economic Summit in Davos by David Arakhamia, the head of the People’s Servant parliamentary faction, complaining about pressure on Ukraine to harmonize its legislation with the EU. Ukraine needs to become economically stronger before it can synchronize its legislation, he said.
The Iranian government knew from the outset that Ukrainian International Airlines (UIA) Flight 752 was shot down by a missile, ​despite its claims to the contrary, Ukrainian President Zelensky said on Feb. 2, citing newly revealed leaked records of a conversation between a pilot who witnessed the crash and an air traffic controller. In their conversation, the pilot asks the air traffic control tower what is he looking at, specifically describing it as a series of lights. “Is there a missile?,” he asked. The controller responds that an explosion occurred, and tries to communicate with the Ukrainian plane, without receiving a response.
Ukraine is planning to hold local elections nationally at the end of October, which should include the occupied territories of Donbas​, Presidential Aide Andriy Yermak told the KRYM YouTube channel in an interview published on Feb. 1. “The next meeting of leaders in the Normandy Format will occur in three months. I hope it occurs and Ukraine will arrive at this meeting with a full package of agreements. I hope that we take such steps that local elections, based on Ukrainian law, will occur on all of Ukraine’s territory at the end of October,” said Yermak, who is among the closest advisers to President Zelensky. ​At the same time, these elections can’t be held in occupied Donbas if illegal armed formations are present there, and if Ukraine doesn’t control the border, which would violate Ukrainian law.
Roman Nasirov, the former head of Ukraine's State Fiscal Service, has won the appeals court round in his fight to regain his position​. Unian reports that the appellate court upheld the lower administrative court ruling reinstating Nasirov. The case, which follows Nasirov's 2017 suspension and eventual dismissal by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2018 for abuse of power and official forgery, has been marred with delays, especially after a judge hearing the case died of a heart attack. The state has 30 days to file a cassation claim if it does not accept the court ruling.
signed a document on military assistance to Ukraine (Ukrainska
President of Turkey Recep Erdoğan arrived in Kyiv on February 3 for a
state visit during which the Ukrainian and Turkish heads of state ​
amounting to $36m ​
.​ The visit was considered a major success for Zelensky by most
Pravda)
repression (RFE/RL)​.
The parliament voted on February 4 to amend two articles of the Constitution in order to reduce the number of MPs from 450 and 300​ and elect them following a proportional system (Kyiv Post).
Parliament approves resignation of minister alleging corruption. ​Ukraine’s parliament voted on February 4 to accept the resignation request of Alyona Babak, the minister for community and regional development, dismissing her with 266 votes (out of 226 needed). It was supported by 221 MPs of the pro-presidential People’s Servant party, while other faction heads said they withdrew their support because her resignation seemed to have been under duress. She submitted her resignation letter on January 16, which was attributed to her “not handling it, not delegating authority” by an anonymous cabinet source, as reported by the pravda.com.ua news site. ​ ​ In her final remarks to parliament, Babak said corruption remains thriving in Ukraine’s
political commentators, but also ​
raised concern of possible increased
​ against Turkish dissidents living in Ukraine ​
9​ UKRAINE Country Report​ March 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com