Hostilities in eastern Ukraine entered their sixth year and continued to put civilians’ lives and well-being at risk, even as absolute numbers of civilian casualties dropped. Former comedian Volodymyr Zelensky won the presidential election in May. Snap parliamentary elections in July delivered his party, Servant of the People, a single-party parliamentary majority, for the first time since Ukraine’s independence. After taking office, Zelensky demonstrated commitment to carrying out anti-corruption reform and ending the armed conflict with Russia.
In 2019, environment for media in Ukraine remained unsafe. Violence by far-right groups continued.
In September, Russia and Ukraine exchanged a total of 70 prisoners. …read more
Source:: Human Rights Watch