KIEV, Oct. 12 – There are indications that former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was Tuesday sentenced to seven years in prison, will be free soon, Yehvenia Carr, Tymoshenko’s daughter, told The New York Times Wednesday.

KIEV, Oct. 11 – A mission from the International Monetary Fund will make a visit to Ukraine soon, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said during a briefing in Kiev region on Tuesday.

KIEV, Oct. 11 – The Ukrainian government has decided to increase the social payments made to veterans of the Great Patriotic War (Second World War), participants of combat operations and victims of the Chernobyl disaster, Social Policy Minister Serhiy Tyhypko said on Wednesday.

KIEV, Oct. 12 – Toxic substances that leaked into the Danube River from a disaster-hit aluminum plant in Ajka, Hungary, could flow into the Ukrainian section of the Danube on October 19-20, the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry reported with reference to the hydro-meteorological service.

KIEV, Oct. 12 – A train locomotive rammed through a stalled passenger bus on a railroad crossing in eastern Ukraine Tuesday, killing 43 people and injuring eight others in the deadliest auto crash in the country’s history.

KIEV, Oct. 12 – Ukraine on the night of Oct. 13/14 is to switch to a new telephone dialing system.

Starting from Oct. 14, to call to another city within Ukraine one will need to dial 0 instead of 8.

The codes for making international telephone calls from Ukraine have also changed. Users should now dial 00 before the country code instead of dialing 10.

KIEV, Oct. 12 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will probably hold their next meeting in November, Deputy Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyria said Monday.

KIEV, Oct. 12 – The National Bank of Ukraine may soon take action on its discount rate, a senior bank official said Monday, citing Volodymyr Stelmakh, the governor of the NBU.

The NBU, which lowered the discount rate to 10.25% from 11% on August 12, is under pressure from key political figures, such as Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, to further cut the rate to speed up economic recovery.

KIEV, Oct. 12 – A team from the International Monetary Fund arrived in Ukraine on Monday for two weeks of talks with the government on whether the country qualifies for a $3.1 billion cash injection later this year.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Oct. 11 - As world powers on Saturday headed toward the Somali coast to end a two-week standoff aboard a Ukrainian ship laden with tanks and weapons, armed pirates hijacked a massive tanker, officials said.