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Yulia Tymoshenko's former adviser Serhy Tihipko wants to become president - without the support of any political party, UNIAN quotes him as declaring to journalists on July 15 in Donetsk.

Ukraine traffic police have issued a warning to foreign drivers, saying self-appointed environmental patrols wearing Cossack uniforms and selling so-called environmental tickets are illegal.

Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn announced in his July 16 address to the nation that he will run for president as the present paralysis of power threatens the country.

It is quite probable that Verkhovna Rada will have an emergency session in summer to adopt the law on the presidential election. Opinion polls indicate that neither Tymoshenko, Yanukovych, Yatseniuk nor Yushchenko can be a shoo-in candidate - even if

Addressing a rally in Luhansk July 16, Serhy Tihipko, an ex-adviser to Premier Tymoshenko, says he favors a strong president, UNIAN reports.

Ukraine foreign ministry must demand retraction from Russia's Rossiya TV channel for its anti-Ukrainian segment shown on July 12. The segment, titled "Divine Retribution," focused on the life and tragic death of a noted Ukrainian politician, Vasyl Chervonij, calling his

The 6-month recession has thrown Ukraine's economy back to the 2003 level, UNIAN quotes Pynzenyk as saying July 17.

A highly placed security service, SBU, official, Maj.-Gen. Yaroslav Savchyn, committed a suicide. There have been no official comments on the death of this 52-year old deputy head of the SBU department for issues of state security and fight against

Addressing journalists July 20, Premier Yulia Tymoshenko called Yushchenko's veto on the budget code a heavy official crime, LIGA.net quotes her as saying.

US Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Ukraine's top five presidential candidates during his visit here, Yushchenko, Tymoshenko, Yanukovych, Lytvyn and Yatseniuk. It will be a casting of sorts, with the United States trying to establish for

Ukrainian politicians should join forces to beat the recession - even during the election campaign, Radio Svoboda quotes US Vice President Joe Biden as saying in Kyiv.

The United States support the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and recognize Ukraine's right to map out its own security policy, US Vice President Joe Biden said, addressing a joint press conference with Pres Yushchenko in Kyiv July 21, Yushchenko's

Former chief of Interior Ministry surveillance department Oleksij Pukach named the high-ranking officials who had ordered the murder of Georgy Gongadze in 2000. Deputy head of the SBU Vasyl Hrytsak told journalists July 22 the officials have not yet been

The visit by US Vice President Joe Biden has demonstrated that among the FSU countries, save for the Baltic states, Ukraine stands the best chance to become a true democracy.

Washington won't stand aloof from the presidential race in Ukraine - such was the tacit message given by VP Biden to the main presidential candidates in Ukraine. Of course, the United States won't put their money on any candidate, indicating

July 23, Ukraine traffic police have again detained military trucks of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol which carried cruise missiles, the third such incident this month. The convoy moved without the necessary permit from the Ukrainian authorities, a

The arrest of ex-General Pukach, believed to be the main perpetrator in the murder of investigative journalists Gongadze in 2000, is a put-up job timed to coincide with the presidential campaign in Ukraine, head of the Lytvyn bloc faction in

Verkhovna Rada has passed changes to the presidential election law. Backed by 316 lawmakers, the law cuts the period of campaigning from 120 to 90 days.