Politics

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a nearly two-hour conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. The leaders discussed strengthening air defense, arms supplies, and further diplomatic efforts.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who arrived in Ukraine to participate in the 9th International Veterans Forum in Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the former U.S. Special Representative to Ukraine, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, who arrived in Kyiv from Odesa to participate in the Veterans Forum.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Germany has provided Ukraine with more than 65 billion euros in aid and remains one of Kyiv’s key partners in the areas of security, defense production, and future reconstruction.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees appointing judges to the High Anti-Corruption Court and also replaced the heads of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Khmelnytskyi and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

The High Anti-Corruption Court ordered former lawmaker Maksym Mykytas to be remanded in custody, with the option of posting bail of 30 million hryvnias. The prosecutor’s office had requested 200 million hryvnias.

On August 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed four decrees imposing new sanctions against Russian companies, officials, and other individuals. The restrictions target suppliers to Russia’s military-industrial complex, non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises, collaborators, and individuals involved in Russian propaganda.

On Friday, August 21, the High Anti-Corruption Court will continue its consideration of a motion filed by a prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) to impose a preventive measure on former People’s Deputy Maksym Mykytas.

The Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court considered an appeal filed by the defense team of Olga Stefanishyna, the former deputy prime minister and former Ukrainian ambassador to the United States. Her attorneys challenged the pretrial condition in the form of a 6 million hryvnia bail.

The NABU and the SAP have exposed a criminal organization operating under the leadership of a current and a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament, with the participation of high-ranking officials from the Office of the President. Among other things, the organization’s goal was to seize real estate in Kyiv worth 500 million hryvnia.