You're reading: Daily Digest: Top weekend news
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel resigned from her post as the head of the Christian Democratic Union Party that he held for 18 years. Her successor is Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is now likely to become the next chancellor after Merkel steps down in 2021. We look into what this will mean for Ukraine.
  • Azov regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine developed a prototype of a new light strike vehicle. The LSVs are starting to play a more prominent role in modern warfare, and the prototype, designed by volunteer engineers, is Ukraine’s first move towards improvement in that area.
  • One Ukrainian soldier was killed and one wounded this weekend in the Donbas, where Russia has been waging a proxy war against Ukraine.
  • Meanwhile, satellite images taken in November show hundreds of Russian tanks positioned at a new military base close to Ukraine’s eastern border.
  • At least three flights were canceled and 11 redirected to other airports as Boryspil International Airport suffered from fog and a minor accident that left one of its two runways temporarily unavailable on the night of Dec. 9.
  • A Kyiv court rejected whistleblower Hanna Solomatina’s lawsuit to be reinstated at the National Agency for Preventing Corruption (NAPC), which fired her after she publicly criticized the agency and its leadership. The ruling once again highlighted the problems at the agency, which was created to help fight graft but is itself regularly accused of corruption.
  • Meanwhile, an investigation by RFE/RL found luxurious real estate in Spain owned by the family of a former top Ukrainian judge.
  • Ukraine has become one of the main topics of the Free Russia Forum, a gathering of Russian intellectuals and liberals who oppose the regime of President Vladimir Putin. The forum is taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania. See our report from its opening day.
  • President Petro Poroshenko has proposed that Russian vessels should be blocked for entering the European or American ports over blocking navigation in the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov.
  • Washington is deeply concerned over the attack on Ukrainian vessels by Russia in international waters, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper said.

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