Also on Friday, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal asked parliament to fire Health Minister Maksym Stepanov.

Appointed at the start of the Covid pandemic, 13 months ago, Stepanov was criticized for first trying to bypass Ukraine’s Western-designed procurement system, then for failing to procure enough vaccines. In April, 500,000 vaccines were administered, a fraction of the 2.6 million promised for that month. To date, almost 1 million vaccines have been administered, giving a first jab to about 3% of the adult population.