08/21/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - An extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada is scheduled for August 31

An extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada is scheduled for August 31

08.21.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine News Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• An extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada is scheduled for August 31.
• Minister of Economic Development Abromavicius said about the facts of large-scale thefts of fuel and grain from the state reserve.
• Chief of General Staff Muzhenko trying to shift the responsibility for the defeat in Ilovaisk at the Interior Ministry.

Key Events in Ukraine

• Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Groisman has appointed an extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada during which it is planned to accept changes to the Constitution regarding the "decentralization" on the 31st of August.
• Former head of the SBU in Kiev was arrested in relation to the case of the shooting of activists of the Maidan.
• Attorney General Shokin approved the test items for the examination of candidates for the prosecutor's' office. The competition will begin September 5th.
• The official rate of hryvnia slightly decreased: 22.09 UAH/USD (+0.06 UAH), 24.93 UAH/EUR (+0,29 UAH), 3.25 UAH/RUR 10 (-UAH 0.05).

Ukraine at War

• The situation in the combat zone in the Donbass remains stably tense. According to official reports, two soldiers were wounded. As a result of militant attacks there are victims among the civilian population. Five pumping stations were destroyed, including one supplying water to the territory controlled by the rebels. At night, the number of attacks increased. Observers record the transfer of heavy equipment to the front line.
• General Staff called rumors distributed by Donbass "republics" about the offencive of the Ukrainian army as a militant’s provocation.
• SBU neutralizes weapons caches nationwide and detained persons cooperating with the militants near the frontline.

Ukraine and the World

• Turkish President Erdogan announced early parliamentary elections, which are planned to appoint on the 1st of November following a statement by the Prime Minister about the impossibility to form a coalition in parliament.
• The heads of "Gazprom" and "Naftogaz" met in Minsk. The head of "Naftogaz" Kobolev has not commented on its results.
  Belarusian President Lukashenko asked "Gazprom" to increase the volume of gas transit through the territory of the country.
• US Secretary of Defense Carter believes that Russia has again become a threat to the United States because of its nuclear arsenal, and the policies of President Putin. He said the United States are reinforcing the quality and size of the army as well as collaborating with countries - members of NATO to prepare them for the new military scenario of "hybrid warfare".
• Case of Ukrainian deputy Savchenko will be hold in the Court in Donetsk, the Rostov region of Russia.
• United States congratulated Ukraine on the coming Independence Day.