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What did the final days of 2019 reveal?
Summary
A look back at three developments reported between 27 and 29 December 2019, spanning the Donbas war, Kyiv's courts and Russian arms.
What was the mood in Ukraine and its neighbourhood on 31 December 2019? Looking back, the closing days of the year brought three reported developments that framed it: a prisoner exchange, a court ruling in Kyiv and a Russian weapons announcement.
A prisoner exchange
On 29 December 2019, the Ukrainian government and separatist rebels exchanged prisoners in the war in Donbass. The swap followed the "all identified for all identified" formula agreed during peace talks in Paris earlier that month.
A ruling on Maidan suspects
On 28 December 2019, an appeals court in Kyiv changed the preventive measure for five former Berkut officers from detention to personal obligations. They were Pavlo Abroskin, Serhiy Zinchenko, Oleksandr Marynchenko, Serhiy Tamtura and Oleh Yanishevsky. They had been suspected of killing people during the Revolution of Dignity.
A Russian weapons announcement
On 27 December 2019, Russia's Ministry of Defence announced the first deployment of the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, calling it a landmark event. President Vladimir Putin said its top speed was over Mach 20 and that it put Russia's military ahead of all other nations.
Taken together, these reports from the last days of 2019 show a war still producing exchanges under negotiated terms, a legal reckoning over the Revolution of Dignity moving through the courts, and Moscow publicising a new weapon.
