What did Kyiv's autumn of 2018 look like by 23 October?
A look back at three developments reported in the days before 23 October 2018, from church property to aviation safety and a mass killing in Kerch.
What was the picture in the days leading up to 23 October 2018? Reports from 17 and 18 October pointed in several directions at once: a decision on a church, a change in aviation guidance and a mass killing in Crimea.
On 17 October, a mass killing at a polytechnic college in Kerch left 20 people dead and about 50 wounded, according to reports at the time.
On 18 October, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a decision to transfer St Andrew's Church to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
The same day, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it would allow American airlines to resume flights at three Ukrainian airports, in Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhia, and over parts of the Black Sea. The agency cited improved safety and security in parts of Ukraine.
Taken together, these reports show a week in which decisions about public institutions and international assessments of safety stood alongside a grave loss of life. Each item was reported separately, and the sources do not link them to one another.
