Omicron spreads to Kharkiv region as a presidential adviser departs
A look back at two items reported on 17 January 2022, as Ukraine's regions and capital absorbed news of the coronavirus variant and an adviser's exit.
What did the regional map of Ukraine's coronavirus outbreak look like on 18 January 2022? Reports from the preceding day, 17 January, showed the Omicron variant moving further across the country.
In the Kharkiv region, the first cases of the Omicron strain were recorded. Omicron had already been confirmed in Kyiv and Odesa, so the variant was now documented in the capital, a southern port city and a north-eastern region.
A departure from the presidential team
The same day brought a personnel item from the centre. Oleksiy Arestovych left his post as an unpaid adviser to the head of the Office of the President, citing personal reasons. He had also served as spokesman for the Ukrainian delegation in the Trilateral Contact Group, and his resignation covered that role too.
The two reports were unrelated, but together they marked the news picture going into 18 January 2022: a variant reaching a new region, and a change of voice for Ukraine's delegation in the contact group.
