Verkhovna Rada

Ukrainian defenders who have returned from Russian captivity are experiencing overwhelming emotions: one soldier is on his knees crying when he returns home, while others are making touching calls to their families.

95 Ukrainian servicemen, members of the National Guard and border guards were released from Russian captivity, bringing the total number of Ukrainians released since the full-scale invasion to 3,405.

Despite the proposal to rename Brovary to Brovari, members of the city council voted to appeal to the Verkhovna Rada to preserve the historical name “Brovary” so that, in particular, they would not spend money on changing the documentation instead of such important expenses as supporting mobilized and wounded soldiers.

The Verkhovna Rada has supported a draft law that obliges all parties to publish prices for construction materials on Prozorro within 3 business days of concluding or amending a contract.

Ukraine has adopted a law that improves the legal regulation of the starosta institution by introducing measures such as clarifying the criteria for the population of starosta districts, ensuring the continuity of starostas' activities, introducing mechanisms for their election and dismissal, expanding their powers, introducing remote public discussions and reporting procedures.

The Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of two draft laws: one prioritizes IDPs for compensation for lost housing, and the other ensures the housing rights of IDPs by conducting a nationwide real estate inventory to identify vacant properties suitable for them.

MP Mariana Bezuhla resigned from the Servant of the People parliamentary faction.

Russian occupiers killed two Ukrainian teenagers, Tigran Ohanesyan and Mykyta Khanganov, in Berdiansk last year and now refuse to return their bodies to their parents or the Ukrainian side, planning instead to bury them secretly.

MP Fedir Venislavskyi filed a complaint against MP Mariana Bezuhla for disclosing information in the field of security and defense at a closed meeting of a parliamentary committee.

President Zelenskyy initiated a draft law that would allow for the legislative deprivation of state awards to those who popularize or promote the aggressor state of Russia or commit other illegal acts against Ukraine.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine opened constitutional proceedings on the unconstitutionality of provisions on granting and using vacations upon the submission of the Ombudsman.

The Verkhovna Rada has passed in the first reading a bill that exempts journalists from liability for moving during curfew while performing their professional duties and abolishes liability for online media for disseminating certain information.

The Verkhovna Rada supported a draft law that obliges employers to insure the life, health and ability to work of journalists and other media workers against accidents during business trips to combat areas or temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The Verkhovna Rada has supported a draft law that allows exempting servicemen from criminal liability for desertion or unauthorized leaving of a unit if it was their first offense, provided they voluntarily return to service with written permission from their commander.

The Verkhovna Rada passed a law on the reinstatement of officers deprived of military ranks due to disciplinary sanctions to their former ranks during martial law, subject to positive certification.

The Verkhovna Rada has supported a bill to cancel daylight saving time. This year, at the end of October, Ukrainians will switch to winter time for the last time, and there will be no more daylight saving time from 2025 onwards.

The Verkhovna Rada abolished tax and customs duties on imports of essential equipment, with amendments providing for exemption from duty and VAT on imports of energy equipment.

A committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will consider the possibility of introducing an excise tax on sweet and flavored beverages to reduce their consumption and negative impact on public health.

Ukraine celebrates the 34th anniversary of the Declaration of State Sovereignty, the first document on the path to independence adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on July 16, 1990.

The first deputy director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), Gizo Uglava, took a polygraph test outside the bureau, despite an invitation to take it at NABU, and the results allegedly showed that he was not involved in the leak of information from NABU.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in a prayer event on the occasion of the Day of Ukrainian Statehood and the Day of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus, presented state awards, including the title of Hero of Ukraine, to fallen soldiers and handed over Ukrainian passports to young citizens.

If the government does not extend the deadline for updating military data, it will lead to a collapse in the judicial system due to the influx of lawsuits regarding fines for not updating credentials.

Ukraine, as an independent state, first joined the UN peacekeeping contingents in 1992 in Yugoslavia, where a bloody civil war was taking place.

The Ministry of Defense believes that 60 days was enough time to update military records, so it is not initiating amendments to Ukrainian legislation to extend the deadline for updating military data.

Yulia Tymoshenko demands an immediate reversal of the electricity price increase to UAH 4. 32, arguing that the real price of nuclear electricity for Ukrainian consumers should be 97 kopecks per kilowatt.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the sale of the state-owned Ukraina Hotel in Kyiv, setting the starting price at over UAH 1 billion.

The Cabinet of Ministers has allocated UAH 3. 2 billion to the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection for the purchase of defense equipment.

The Cabinet of Ministers has allocated UAH 6. 8 billion for the e-Restoration program, including UAH 2.4 billion for housing repairs and UAH 4.4 billion to finance housing certificates for 3,000 citizens.

Law enforcement officers documented how the official received bribes from the director of a Kyiv-based company engaged in the wholesale of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels. In exchange for a monetary "reward," the official, according to the investigation, promised to provide the businessman with licenses to sell fuel.

Italy intends to increase its aid to Ukraine to 2% of GDP.