- Ukraine’s soldiers are approaching a grim anniversary: five years of war with Russia in the eastern Donbas region. Our correspondent reports from eastern Donetsk Oblast.
- Just three days after the U.S. Navy dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry entered the Black Sea, Russia has sent a large anti-submarine destroyer, the Severomorsk of Russia’s Northern Fleet, into the sea.
- As Ukraine begins liberalizing its foreign currency controls, local ATMs will now be able to give out dollars and euros.
- Paul Manafort, the former chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, shared polling data during the 2016 campaign with Konstantin Kilimnik, a business associate and employee accused of having ties to Russian intelligence, and lied about it to prosecutors, the Associated Press reports. Manafort also long worked for the Party of Regions of Ukraine’s ousted former president, Viktor Yanukovych.
- Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister, Volodymyr Omelyan, says Ryanair and Wizz Air will launch flights to Odesa this year. But the companies are mum.
- Ukraine’s Economy Ministry is expecting to start official negotiations with the United Kingdomon a free trade agreement this year.
- If you like watching movies, good news for you: Ukraine’s largest movie theater chain, Multiplex, will add 40 new cinemas to its existing network of 129 theaters in 2019.
- The World Bank, one of Ukraine’s key creditors, has worsened its forecast for real GDP growthin the country this year, UNIAN reports.
