BRUSSELS, April 24 - Ukraine will extend its presence in Afghanistan after NATO ends its mission in the country, and it will also make its contribution to the Afghan Security Forces Fund Ihor Dolhov, head of Ukraine's Mission to NATO, said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists in Brussels ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers from NATO and ISAF partner nations.

KIEV, April 24 - Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant will cover the equipment in the turbine room of unit No. 4, the roof of which collapsed last winter, with a special paste in order to avoid radioactive dust being raised, Ukraine's chief state inspector for nuclear and radiation safety, Mykhailo Hashev, said.

MOSCOW, April 24 - Gazprom warned European companies on Wednesday against what it alleges are illicit resales of Russian gas to Ukraine, stepping up pressure on its neighbor in a long-standing contractual dispute, Reuters reported.

KIEV, April 23 – Organizing the search for gas and oil and other mineral deposits is a key task of the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said while introducing newly appointed Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Eduard Stavytsky in Kiev on Monday.

KIEV, April 24 - Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has gone on a hunger strike in jail after prison guards punched her in the stomach and dragged her off for a medical examination, she said in a statement.

KIEV, April 23 – President Viktor Yushchenko has signed a bill on a decision of the National Security and Defense Council on urgent measures on providing for information security, the presidential press service reported on Wednesday.

The press service said that the cabinet is to submit proposals on a managing body for communications companies and bodies in one month due to the introduction of digital standards in television and radio broadcasting in Ukraine.

KIEV, April 24 – President Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday criticized Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s plan of turning Ukraine into a parliamentary republic in which powers of the president would be reduced or eliminated.

KIEV, April 24 – The National Bank of Ukraine on Thursday postponed a decision that would allow the hryvnia to rapidly gain value against the U.S. dollar, but pledged to consider the issue again later this year.

KIEV, April 24 – President Viktor Yushchenko stepped up security at the State Property Fund, the country’s privatization agency, amid a looming clash with the government of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko over assets to be sold off.

KIEV, April 24 ??“ The Ukrainian government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, plans to approve on Wednesday a resolution that would increase pensions to more than 1 million retirees, according to the government??™s press service.