A nighttime aerial strike by Russian forces on Sloviansk in Donetsk region killed one person and injured ten residents. Search operations continue under the rubble.
On the 1,697th day of the full-scale invasion, 238 combat clashes were recorded on the front, with Russian military losses amounting to 1,950 personnel and significant equipment.
The US President blocked the introduction of "hellish sanctions" by deciding to halt high tariffs and postpone secondary tariffs for buyers of Russian energy resources.
Enemy shelling in Zhytomyr region damaged energy facilities and housing, while two people were injured in Rivne region.
At the EU summit in Brussels, Volodymyr Zelensky emphasised that a Russian victory could trigger a new wave of migration and increased conflict escalation.
The Ministry of Commerce of the PRC warns the European Union of a resolute defence of its interests in the event of additional restrictions on imports of Chinese goods.
Vinnytsia Mayor Serhiy Morgunov reported that the city faced power supply issues following an enemy attack.
Two residents were injured after a strike hit an open area between residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia. Reports indicate damage to apartment blocks and vehicle fires.
In 2025, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine approached the Kyiv-based agency U Agency with a request to conduct a comprehensive audit of its communications ecosystem and provide solutions for all relevant teams. Despite this, no open tender for such work is recorded on the Prozorro platform. Instead, the agency's official website already presents this episode as a completed case study titled "Strategy for the Effectiveness of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine." Thus, a state institution appeared in the portfolio of a private PR firm without the disclosure of service costs.
The U Agency is located at 3 Dorohozhych Street in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv. Its founder and managing partner is Oleksandra Pohorila. Before establishing her own business, she held the position of communications director at the UFuture holding and also served as a brand ambassador for UNIT.City and the Kyiv International Economic Forum.
A key figure in this story is Alina Tornagi. Since October 2023, she has been publicly positioned as the "Head of Marketing and Communications of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Diia project." It was under this title that she was announced by the Faculty of International Relations of the National Aviation University at a lecture titled "Social Networks as 100% Personal Brand." Her profile also lists experience working with the SMM team of "Ze!", Kyivstar, PepsiCo, and Fedoriv Hub.
Alina Tornagi is not a civil servant within the meaning of the ministry's staffing table. She has been registered as a sole proprietor (FOP) since 25 May 2015. The main code of economic activity (KVED) for her business activities relates to data processing and information hosting, and also advertising agency activities. She is the wife of Mstyslav Banik, who previously headed the "Diia" project at the Ministry of Digital Transformation and has held the position of Deputy Minister of Defence since 25 March 2026.
According to legislation, a sole proprietor with advertising codes cannot formally hold the position of department head in a ministry, as civil service and business activities are contradictory in this context. The title Tornagi uses in the public sphere does not match her employment status recorded in the registers. The commissioning of an audit of "all communications teams" with her involvement may indicate two scenarios: either an external contractor gained access to a review of state communications without a public contract, or a person without a position in the staff ordered work on behalf of the ministry.
It is important to distinguish this situation from the financial audit conducted by the Audit Office. In August 2026, the Audit Office reviewed the financial statements of the Ministry of Digital Transformation for 2025, which included 8.4 billion UAH in budget funds and nearly 10 billion UAH in assets. As a result of the review, a qualified opinion was formed due to issues regarding intangible assets and asset valuation. This is a fundamentally different process, involving a different executor and different documents.
The services of U Agency relate to "communications effectiveness." The public description of the case lacks specific metrics, comparisons of "before" and "after" indicators, data on audience reach, cost per contact, or a list of teams that became more effective. The main thesis is based on the assertion that a national-scale institution must communicate at an appropriate level.
Thus, a state client, whose communications are part of public policy, handed over the audit of its ecosystem to an agency of personal brands. The results of this work were published in the agency's Instagram, not in a report on public procurement. Next to this case is a person who calls herself the head of the ministry's marketing but legally remains a sole proprietor with an advertising profile and the wife of an official who moved to the Ministry of Defence.
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