Here's more from our news desk on the new NSDC secretary:
Ukrainian Ex-Governor Danilov Appointed National Security Chief
Oleksiy Danilov, a former member of parliament and ex-governor of the easternmost Luhansk region, has been appointed secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC).
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed the relevant order on October 3 to fill the position that former Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk had occupied until earlier this week.
Danilov, 57, has been deputy NSDC secretary since July 23.
Last month, Danylyuk announced he had offered to quit without giving a reason for the decision.
A native of the Luhansk region, Danilov was that regional capital's youngest mayor at age 31 from 1994 to 1997, and also served as the region’s governor for much of 2005.
He was also a member of parliament in the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc in 2006-2007.
He has a law degree from the Luhansk Institute of Internal Affairs, a master's degree in management from the Eastern Ukrainian National University, and a teaching degree in history from the Shevchenko Luhansk State Pedagogical University.
Based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, Censor.net, and UNIAN
Here's an item from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
Pro-Russian Ukrainian Politician's Associate Questioned In 'Terrorism' Case
KYIV -- Taras Kozak, an associate of Ukrainian pro-Russian politician, Viktor Medvedchuk, has been questioned by the country's security service (SBU) over terrorism-related cases.
SBU spokeswoman Olena Hitlyanska told RFE/RL that Kozak's questioning on October 3 was related to probes launched into terrorism, financing terrorism, and money laundering.
Kozak, who owns the media holding that includes the 112 Ukraine and NewsOne television channels, said in a televised interview that he was not charged with any crime and was questioned as a witness.
Last week, the Ukrainian National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting refused to extend 112 Ukraine's broadcasting license, citing the channel's "failure to fix violations of the broadcast concept since 2014."
In October 2018, Ukrainian lawmakers adopted a resolution proposing that the National Security and Defense Council impose sanctions on the owners of 112 Ukraine and NewsOne.
The resolution was adopted after more than 25,000 citizens signed a petition demanding that the two broadcasters halt their activities, accusing them of "being tools of Russian propaganda in Ukraine."
Relations between the two countries have been tense since 2014, after Russian annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and began supporting pro-Kremlin separatists in Ukraine's east in a conflict where more than 13,000 people have been killed.
Another item from RFE/RL's news desk:
U.S. Welcomes 'Progress Toward Peace' In Eastern Ukraine, Calls On Russia To Show 'Political Will'
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has welcomed "progress towards peace" in eastern Ukraine, two days after Kyiv, Moscow, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) agreed to move forward with talks to find lasting peace in the Donbas.
In a statement posted on its Twitter account on October 3, the embassy called for the "reinstatement of Ukrainian control of its international border."
It said that holding "free and fair elections" in the areas controlled by Russia-backed separatists in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions requires "withdrawing Russia-led forces and illegal armed formations from Ukraine’s territory," as well as "a secure environment."
"Russia needs to display the political will to make this happen," the embassy added.
Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
Nearly 2 million people have been displaced, the largest internal migration of people on the European continent since World War II.
Four-way talks involving Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany -- known as the Normandy format -- are expected to resume in the near future for the first time in three years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on October 1 announced he was willing to give the Donbas region "special” self-governing status once elections are held in accordance with international standards and endorsed by the OSCE.
For that to happen, all armed formations must leave the area and Ukraine must regain control over its borders with Russia, Zelenskiy said.
Ukrainian political forces should be allowed to run in the elections, with international election monitors observing and Ukrainian media covering the vote, the president added in televised comments on October 3.
All internally displaced people should also be allowed to cast ballots, he said.
What’s not clear based on the provisional agreement brokered in Minsk on October 1 is the sequence of steps that will be taken to ensure elections in Ukraine’s east and the degree of autonomy the two Donbas regions will get -- an issue that has led to protests in Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on October 3 that Zelenskiy would prove to be a strong politician if he succeeds in completing the peace process.
"The people are waiting for this issue to be resolved and if he musters enough political courage and strength to complete it, I think he will prove himself as an honest, strong politician capable of implementing the decisions that have been made," Putin said at a conference organized by the Valdai Discussion Club think tank in Moscow.
Also on October 3, Denise Natali, assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian officials.
Natali plans to meet with the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Oksana Kolyada, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, and nongovernmental organizations "to discuss veteran reintegration support and the Donbas conflict," the State Department said.
With reporting by Reuters