KYIV, May 20 - Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has named a new health minister, who immediately pledged to speed up the country's sluggish vaccination campaign, RFE/RL reported.

Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.

KYIV, May 20 - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called Moscow’s recent move to distribute Russian passports to residents in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk "a big problem" and the first step toward the annexation of the area, RFE/RL reported.

KYIV, May 20 - Ukraine’s government will ease nationwide lockdown measures on May 22 amid signs that coronavirus has been slowing down in the country, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Wednesday.

KYIV, May 20 – Ukraine will open the Investment Promotion Office led by ex-head of the government of Adjara Levan Varshalomidze in September 2020, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

KYIV, May 20 - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Wednesday that Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund will sign a new deal this month that will open door for lending to the country.

KYIV, May 17 – Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky, who returned to the country from self-imposed 2-year exile, said he plans to stay in Ukraine for at least five years.

KYIV, May 20 – The team of President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy will conduct a "state audit" in the first 100 days in order to understand the state's position, an ideologist of the Zelenskiy team, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said.

KYIV, May 20 - Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday was sworn in as Ukraine’s new president and immediately fulfilled his campaign promise by announcing a snap election to choose new lawmakers.

KYIV, May 17 – Rudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer for U.S. President Donald Trump, has said he believes President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky, to fulfill his campaign promises, should "be cleansed from the 'clingfishes' from his past and criminal oligarchs… and those who interfere in [his] direct communication with the president-elect."

KYIV, May 20 – Ukraine’s energy sector must be governed by economic interests without interference of politics that encourages corruption, President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s advisor said Monday.