Ukrainian Health Minister Maxim Stepanov posted on Facebook an update on the number of people infected with coronavirus in Ukraine.

On the morning of January 6, this figure was 1,090,496 people. 

At the same time, according to official statistics, after a slight decrease in the number of new cases of COVID-19 infection detected per day, which was observed on January 2, 3 and 4, from January 5, this figure began to grow again - then the number of infected people increased by 5,334 people, January 6 - at 6 911.

Against this background, analysts say, attempts to force the Kiev authorities to reconsider the decision to abandon the Russian Sputnik V vaccine continue in Ukraine.

For example, the Opposition Platform - For Life (OPLZ) party decided to initiate a collection of signatures for the registration of Sputnik V in the country.

This was announced by the head of the youth wing of the HLSA Artyom Marchevsky during a working trip to Pokrovsk (Donetsk region).

“Viktor Medvedchuk (Chairman of the Political Council of the HLE. -

RT

) has already agreed to receive the only Sputnik V vaccine available in the shortest possible time.

Moreover, Ukraine may even start producing it.

But the authorities, apparently, do not care about people's lives and health.

We initiate the collection of signatures for the receipt and production of the vaccine.

Let's start with the inhabitants of Pokrovsk, Dobropolye, and Myrnograd.

Later we will cover the entire Donetsk region, Lugansk region and extend to the whole of Ukraine, ”he said.

At the same time, Marchevsky did not specify exactly how the collection of signatures would be carried out. 

Russia offers help

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the possibility of supplying the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to Ukraine back in October 2020 at a meeting with Viktor Medvedchuk, chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform - For Life party.

“I can tell right away that such a possibility exists,” the head of state said in response to Medvedchuk's request to think about supplying the Sputnik V vaccine to Ukraine.

  • Head of the Political Council of the Ukrainian Party "Opposition Platform - For Life" Viktor Medvedchuk

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Nikolsky

A little later, a similar statement was made by the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov, noting that the decision on the supply of the vaccine depends on Kiev.

By the way, Viktor Medvedchuk, together with his family, was vaccinated against the coronavirus with the Russian vaccine back in October 2020 while on vacation in Crimea.

The politician said that the stubborn reluctance of the Ukrainian authorities to buy the vaccine in Russia is outrageous.

“Instead of thinking about how to save people, how to negotiate a vaccine, they start talking about the fact that it is a Russian vaccine, they start talking about how Russia is an aggressor.

But at the same time, today Russia for Ukraine is the second partner in trade and economic relations.

This means that you can trade with Russia, you can sell certain types of products, you can buy imported products, but you cannot buy vaccines, ”Medvedchuk was indignant.

Earlier, the US Embassy in Ukraine also joined the discussion on the purchase of Sputnik V.

On October 18, the American diplomatic mission published a message on Facebook stating that Kiev would not buy the Russian vaccine.

And in December, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, in an interview with The Day newspaper, called the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 a "hybrid weapon" of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

At the same time, at the end of December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even complained in an interview with The New York Times that he could not explain to the Ukrainian society why the vaccine should not be taken from Russia "when America and Europe do not give them."

As the newspaper notes, Zelensky expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the current US President Donald Trump signed a decree on December 8, according to which Washington will not provide the coronavirus vaccine to other countries until all US citizens have access to it.

Trying to find a way out of the impasse, the Ukrainian authorities entered into an agreement to purchase a Chinese vaccine from Sinovac Biotech.

Moreover, this drug has not yet been registered even in China itself. 

However, as a source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine told RT, the purchase of a Chinese vaccine by Kiev may be negatively perceived in Washington.

“The US Embassy is closely following the actions of the Ukrainian authorities, and close cooperation with China does not cause them positive emotions.

But this year Ukraine needs to resume cooperation with the IMF and other loans from Western partners.

Therefore, most likely, the funds for the supply of the vaccine will need to be returned.

And all because it is a mess in Ukraine, and different ministries do not coordinate actions with each other.

The Ministry of Health does not take into account foreign policy risks and does not consult with diplomats, "the source told RT. 

"We need to forget about disagreements"

In turn, the Russian side still leaves the doors open for negotiations with Kiev on the supply of vaccines.

Moreover, in December it became known that the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Gamaleya Center announced their readiness to produce the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Ukraine.

The Foundation noted that the Kharkov plant "Biolek" has the necessary technological capabilities for the production of vaccines based on the human adenovirus vector.

At the end of December, Biolek submitted an application for state registration of Sputnik V to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health.

So far, nothing is known about the results of consideration of the application.

As noted by an RT source at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, by collecting signatures, the HLS is trying to speed up the vaccine registration process.

  • Hospital for patients with coronavirus in Kiev

  • Reuters

  • © Gleb Garanich

“The package of documents is huge, and the term for consideration of the application can be up to 210 days.

I think that the goal of the HLE is to consider the issue of registering the Russian vaccine at the government level and apply an accelerated procedure, which can take up to 45 days, "said the interlocutor of RT.

He also added that if the Russian vaccine is produced in Ukraine, Kiev will be able to control its quality.

In turn, a RT source in the Servant of the People party noted that there has long been talk in the Ukrainian parliament that there is simply no alternative to the Russian vaccine in the current circumstances.

“The coronavirus pandemic has shown that deputies and officials, even with a lot of money, cannot go abroad for treatment - they are not expected there.

And Ukrainian medicine you know in what condition.

Even in the capital.

Therefore, the medical system cannot cope without a vaccine, and there are not enough places in private clinics for everyone, ”the deputy said. 

According to him, people with a high level of income in Ukraine have long been trying in different ways to find an opportunity to buy the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

The RT source in the Batkivshchyna party, in turn, believes that "what is happening with vaccination in Ukraine is sabotage."

“Now we need to forget about the differences and take the helping hand of Russia, since we have no other alternatives, and this is the only chance to stop the pandemic.

Moreover, President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said that he is ready to make concessions for the health of the country's citizens.

It's time to move from words to deeds, "the source said to RT.  

"Does not meet the interests of the people of Ukraine"

According to analysts, Kiev is guided exclusively by political motives in preventing the registration of the Russian vaccine in Ukraine.

The appeal of the Ukrainian authorities to the fact that she did not pass the third phase of testing (this was said by the Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine and Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko) is untenable, because not a single vaccine in the world has completely passed it.

At the same time, more than 30 countries have already become interested in the Russian vaccine.

In early October, the first batch of the drug arrived in Venezuela, on December 30, 2.4 thousand doses of the Russian vaccine arrived in Serbia, an agreement was signed on the supply of 2.6 million doses of Sputnik V to Bolivia, and production was launched in Kazakhstan.

In Argentina and Belarus, vaccination with a Russian-made drug has already begun. 

  • Unloading the Russian Sputnik V vaccine from the plane that delivered the first batch of the drug to Argentina

  • RIA News

  • © Daria Stanislavets

However, in Ukraine, according to political scientist and economist Oleksandr Dudchak, the action of the HLS is unlikely to affect anything.

“Petitions, collection of signatures in Ukraine do not affect decision-making.

But this is another reminder for the Ukrainian leadership that what it does is not in the interests of the people of Ukraine and is sabotage, ”he said in an interview with RT. 

A similar point of view is shared by the Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Zharikhin.  

“It is unlikely that it will be possible to influence the leaders of Ukraine in this way, since they do not make decisions on the use of a particular vaccine.

This decision is being made in the United States and has already been made in favor of the Pfizer vaccine.

It is for this reason that the Ukrainian authorities are doing everything to discredit the Russian drug, "he said in an interview with RT.

Alexander Dudchak also recalled the strong dependence of the Kiev authorities on the West.

“Zelensky, taking any action, looks back at Ukraine's western partners and their reaction, and after that he thinks about how this will be assessed by the Ukrainian society.

He ignores the requests and interests of the majority of the population, since the main thing for him is to continue the line that was set in Washington, ”the analyst explained.

Experts note that such a position of Zelensky in the extremely difficult conditions of the coronavirus pandemic can accelerate the drop in his rating, which has already been observed for most of his presidency.

“Today Zelensky is marking time in the same field with Poroshenko and other nationalists.

But such a position could lead to a further decrease in his rating and, as a result, put him on a par with such marginal politicians as Oleg Lyashko, ”Dudchak said.

In turn, Zharikhin believes that Zelensky no longer cares about the rating, since he understands that he will most likely not have a second presidential term.

“The decline in the level of popular sympathy does not bother him, since he realizes that he is a one-time president.

Today he cares not about maintaining his rating at a certain level, but about making those who hired him for this position happy, ”the expert concluded.