What did 31 December 2019 leave unresolved after a busy week?
A Kyiv court ruling on former Berkut officers and Russia's Avangard announcement framed the final days of 2019.
What was the picture on 31 December 2019, the last day of the year? Two reports from the preceding days set the backdrop: one about justice in Kyiv, the other about Russian military claims.
On 28 December 2019, an appeals court in Kyiv changed the preventive measure for five former Berkut officers, replacing detention with personal obligations. Pavlo Abroskin, Serhiy Zinchenko, Oleksandr Marynchenko, Serhiy Tamtura and Oleh Yanishevsky had been suspected of killing people during the Revolution of Dignity. The ruling did not end the case against them; it changed the conditions under which they awaited it.
On 27 December 2019, Russia's Ministry of Defence announced the first deployment of the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle and called it a landmark event. President Vladimir Putin said its top speed exceeded Mach 20 and that it put Russia's military ahead of all other nations.
The two reports are unrelated in subject, but both were part of the news at the year's end. One concerned accountability for deaths during the Revolution of Dignity, now handled by the courts; the other was a claim of military advantage made by Russia's leadership.
