Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was fined on June 10 for violating quarantine restrictions on June 3.
While on a work trip to Khmelnytsky, a city of 265,690 people, located 324 kilometers west from Kyiv, Zelensky stopped and took a break in a coffee shop in the city center with top officials.
The group sat indoors despite the fact that restaurants were allowed to serve clients only at summer terraces until June 5, and indoor premises had to be closed.
Also, Zelensky was drinking coffee in the company of at least five people, while the government allows the maximum of four people to take one table during the quarantine.
Since Ukraine imposed the quarantine to curb the spread of COVID-19 in March, Zelensky has been actively backing it, recording daily video addresses calling Ukrainian to abide by the restrictions. A photo of the president sipping an espresso at a cafe, with Deputy Health Minister Viktor Lyashko observing it from the background, went viral on social media in Ukraine.
On June 10, the National Police reported that Zelensky, other members of the party, and the owner of the cafe all received fines for violating the quarantine. While they didn’t specify the amount of the fine, standard fines for violating quarantine are between Hr 17,000 and Hr 34,000 ($640-$1,280).
Zelensky took it lightly, saying that law enforcement were right to do so.
“They fined us and they were right there,” he said to journalists during another work trip in Chernihiv, a city of 285,820 inhabitants, located 143 kilometers north of Kyiv.
Earlier, when confronted by journalists about his visit to the cafe, Zelensky had said he was ready to pay the fine.
In addition to Zelensky, the “visitors” who were fined included the Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, his first deputy Serhiy Trofimov, Deputy Health Minister Lyashko, the Governor of Khmelnytsky Oblast Dmytro Habinet and Mayor of Khmelnytsky Oleksandr Simchyshyn.
On June 5, restaurants in most of Ukraine’s regions were allowed to open their indoor halls. In Kyiv and seven regions where infection rates remain high, restaurants are still allowed to serve customers only outdoors.
