Ukraine is in the midst of what some might call swine-flu hysteria. The country is in virtual lockdown mode, with the government closing schools, universities and movie theaters and banning all public gatherings until the end of November. Pharmacies have run out of protective masks; those who missed the rush are improvising with scarves or homemade facsimiles. And rumors are running rampant, much as they did during Soviet times when the authorities tried to cover up disasters like the Chernobyl nuclear-plant meltdown. "We are worried that the swine flu has mutated and is killing scores of people," says Nina Sokolovska as she stands in line at a pharmacy.

To be sure, flu is spreading in Ukraine, with the government reporting more than 600,000 cases in the last week. The Health Ministry said Thursday that 95 people have died from the flu or respiratory infections, although it's uncertain how many of these deaths have been caused by the H1N1 virus and how many have been the result of seasonal flu. The World Health Organization says it's safe to assume the H1N1 virus is widespread.

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1934946,00.html

Urging its citizens not to panic, Ukraine on Monday closed the nation’s schools for a week to avoid the spread of swine flu and suggested that nightclubs, cinemas and food markets in the west also shut down.

The World Health Organization said Monday there was no evidence that Ukraine had a bad outbreak of swine flu but at the government’s request it had sent a health team there to help the country cope.

“But this is not an indication that the situation is severe,” said WHO spokeswoman Liuba Negru. “The information we have gotten (from the government), we have to double-check it and make sure it is real, evidence-based information.”

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/ukraine-closes-all-schools-to-fight-swine-flu/

November 2014

Vice President Joe Biden told the Kremlin during a visit Friday to Ukraine that the United States will never recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea and warned Moscow that it faces greater isolation if it continues its “provocative action.”

Biden was in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, on the first anniversary of the “Maidan” revolution that brought hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets for three months before President Viktor Yanukovich was driven from office on Feb. 21.

Ukraine has since been torn apart by a pro-Russia rebellion in the east of the country and the loss of the Crimean peninsula, which Russia seized days after its loyal ally Yanukovich was forced to flee.

Biden called on Russia to withdraw its troops and armaments from eastern Ukraine and cease the “aggression” threatening Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-ukraine-russia-biden-20141121-story.html