Kyiv court ruling and Russian missile claim before 2020
A look back at two reports from the final days of 2019: a Kyiv appeal court's decision on former Berkut officers and a Russian announcement about the Avangard.
What was reported in the days leading up to 31 December 2019? Two items stand out from the last week of the year, one from Kyiv and one from Moscow.
On 28 December 2019, an appeal court in Kyiv changed the preventive measure for five former Berkut officers, replacing detention with personal obligations. The men were Pavlo Abroskin, Serhiy Zinchenko, Oleksandr Marynchenko, Serhiy Tamtura and Oleh Yanishevsky. They had been suspected of killing people during the Revolution of Dignity.
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.
The two reports, from 27 and 28 December, were among the latest on record as 2019 ended.
