This week, the 32nd session in the "Ramstein" format was held, the verdict against ex-President Viktor Yanukovych came into effect, and the US Department of Justice published the first batch of "Epstein files".
Babel has compiled the main events of the week so that you can stay up to date with the news.
“Ramstein” format meeting
On December 16, a meeting in the "Ramstein" format was held online, as a result of which Ukraineʼs partners announced military assistance worth hundreds of millions of euros.
In particular, Germany will allocate a record €11.5 billion in 2026 to support Ukraineʼs defense, namely air defense, drones, and artillery systems.
Germany also transferred to Ukraine two Patriot air defense systems promised in August and the ninth IRIS-T system.
The UK Defense Secretary John Healy reported the allocation of £600 million to strengthen Ukraineʼs air defenses.
In addition, other partners have promised new military assistance packages.
New EU sanctions
The EU Council has adopted sanctions against 12 people and 2 organizations for hybrid threats from Russia, including information manipulation and cyberattacks.
Pro-Russian analysts, propagandists, and conspiracy theorists associated with the Kremlinʼs information apparatus were subject to restrictions.
The list, in particular, included propagandist Diana Panchenko.
Sanctions were also applied to shipping companies based in the UAE, Vietnam, and Russia that own or operate tankers of the Russian shadow fleet.
On 18 December, the Council of the EU also imposed sanctions on 41 more vessels from Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers that are helping Russia circumvent sanctions. These vessels are banned from entering EU ports and from receiving a wide range of maritime transport services. The list includes not only the shadow fleet oil tankers, but also vessels carrying military equipment for Russia or stolen Ukrainian grain and cultural assets from Ukraine.
Negotiations on the US peace plan
On December 15, negotiations between delegations from Ukraine and the United States took place in Berlin. They lasted more than 5 hours. According to Trumpʼs envoy Steve Witkoff, the representatives held "deep discussions on the 20-point peace plan, economic programs and other issues" and "made significant progress".
Politico, citing sources, wrote that the United States proposed creating a demilitarized "free economic zone" in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but Ukraine rejected this initiative.
On December 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that there was no agreed version of the peace plan yet, and the issue of a reparations loan was on the table.
He also stated that the most difficult issues during the negotiations remain the territories of Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia NPP, and money for restoration.
The second verdict against Viktor Yanukovych came into effect
The Kyiv Court of Appeals rejected the appeals of Viktor Yanukovychʼs lawyers and upheld the former presidentʼs sentence for incitement to desertion and illegal border crossing — 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors have proven that on February 23, 2014, former Ukrainian President Yanukovych, in collusion with the former head of the Presidential Security Service and with the assistance of the Russian military, illegally crossed the state border.
Together with approximately 20 people from his entourage and security, they flew in Russian military helicopters from the Donetsk region to Yeisk in the Russian Federation, and then via Anapa to Crimea.
In Sevastopol, the ex-president incited his bodyguards to leave for Russia. Some of them never returned to military service in Ukraine. The entire route was controlled and escorted by Russian military personnel, and Vladimir Putin himself approved it.
Oleksandr Kornienko led the “Servant of the People” party
On December 17, the “Servant of the People” party was again led by Oleksandr Kornienko, who is currently the First Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. Since November 2021, this position has been held by Olena Shulyak for two terms. Her term ended on December 14.
Blackout in the Odesa region
On December 17, a state-level emergency was declared in the Odesa region — for four days, the region experienced massive power outages due to a Russian attack.
This decision was made at a meeting of the commission on technogenic and environmental safety and emergencies at the Odesa Regional Military Administration.
Due to the Russian attack on December 13, which became one of the most massive in the region, a large-scale blackout occurred in Odesa and the region, half a million homes were without electricity and another 30 thousand remain.
First batch of "Epstein files" published
On December 19, the US Department of Justice released the first batch of documents related to the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. Among the tens of thousands of documents, which have been censored to protect the privacy of some of the people depicted, are dozens of photographs of famous people.
President Donald Trump is not in the photo. His image appears only among the photos Epstein kept in a drawer: the men stand with Maxwell and Trumpʼs future wife Melania. Some Democrats have already criticized the publication as too limited.
On December 18, American Democrats also published five photos from the “Epstein files” — without any explanation. Among other things, they show American linguist and political journalist Noam Chomsky on a plane with Epstein, multibillionaire Bill Gates with an unknown woman, and the passport of an unknown Ukrainian woman.
EU agrees €90 billion in aid to Ukraine over next two years
The European Union has not agreed on the use of Russian frozen assets. Ukraine will receive a €90 billion loan from the blocʼs budget. This is an interest-free loan secured by the EU budget. Three EU countries will not participate in financing the guarantees: the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
The EU will continue to keep Russian assets frozen until Russia pays reparations to Ukraine. If Russia does not do so, Ukraine will be able to use the money to repay the loan.
Attacks on Belbek airfield
On December 18, the SBU drones attacked the Belbek airfield in occupied Crimea with long-range drones. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Russian equipment were destroyed there. The drones targeted the Pantsir-S2 air defense system and a MiG-31 aircraft with full ammunition.
Two Nebo-SVU radar complexes and the 92N6 radar station, which is part of the S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system, were also damaged.
On December 20, SBU attacked the airfield again. Two Su-27 multi-role fighters were hit.
Russian troops crossed the border in the Sumy region
Russian troops entered the border village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region and deported almost 50 residents to the Russian Federation.
On the DeepState map, these settlements are not marked as occupied as of December 21. Project co-founder Ruslan Mikula confirmed to Suspilne that they are currently recording the activation of Russian troops in the Hrabovske area.
Later, Dmytro Lykhovii, an officer of the Main Communications Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda that as a result of the Russian offensive, the Defense Forces had to retreat from several positions in the Hrabovske area.
The Joint Forces Group stated that as of December 21, fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops is ongoing in the border village of Hrabovske, Sumy region.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.