Editor’s Note: This is a look at the most interesting numbers and photos of 2018 from Ukraine.
Naftogaz won a $2.6 billion claim against Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in the Stockholm arbitration court after a four-year legal battle over a 2009 gas contract.
The Kyiv Post, Ukraine’s oldest English-language newspaper, was sold to Odesa businessman Adnan Kivan for a reported $3.5 million.
17-year-old Ukrainian athlete Daria Bilodid became the youngest world champion in the history of the sport of judo.
Ukraine’s Daria Bilodid (blue) fights to win the gold medal against Japan’s Funa Tonaki during the under 48kg women category of the 2018 Judo World Championships in Baku on September 20, 2018. (AFP)
The government increased gas prices for household by 23.5 percent as of Nov. 1 under pressure from the International Monetary Fund.
Drillers of Croatian company Crosco works at drilling rig at Yablunivske gas field on Oct. 26, 2018 in Poltava oblast. Croatian drilling contractor Crosco performs a drilling works at Ukrainian well for Joint Stock Company UGV (Naftogas group). (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
The IMF approved a 14-month, $3.9 billion standby arrangement for Ukraine to replace an earlier agreement, under which the IMF lent Ukraine about $8.7 billion.
Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov held as a political prisoner in a Russian jail, was on hunger strike for 145 days. The European Parliament awarded him the 2018 Sakharov Prize for freedom of Thought.
A banner with a portrait of Oleg Sentsov is seen as people walk in the Odesa Academic theater of music and comedy to watch a movie during the 9th Odesa International Film Festival in Odesa, on July 16, 2018. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko was sentenced to 12 years in Russia for espionage, charges that he denied.
At least 183 Ukrainian hostages remain held in Russia.
19-year-old Andriy Eyder is the youngest of 24 sailors captured by Russia’s special services after an attack on three Ukrainian navy vessels in the Kerch Strait on Nov. 25.
A 30-day period of martial law was imposed in 10 regions of Ukraine until Dec. 26.
Soldiers of Ukraine’s Azov Regiment watch artillery shells impact in water surface during large-scale military drills at the Azov Sea shore near the town of Urzuf on Oct. 9, 2018. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Ukraine banned Russian men aged 16 to 60 from entering the country for the period of martial law.
128 Ukrainian soldiers were killed on the frontline of the Donbas in the first 11 months of this year, adding to the total death toll of almost 3,000 servicemen recorded since the beginning of the war.
Activist Kateryna Gandziuk died on Nov. 4 in a Kyiv hospital 96 days after she had been doused with acid outside her home in Kherson. General Prosecutor’s Office said it had identified the attackers and organizers.
A would-be hitman was allegedly promised $40,000 to kill Arkady Babchenko, a Russian journalist living in Kyiv. The assassination was prevented in an elaborate sting operation in which Babchenko had to stage his own death, Ukraine’s SBU security service said.
Russian anti-Kremlin journalist Arkady Babchenko (R) smiles as Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko speaks during a press conference at Ukrainian Security Service in Kyiv on May 30, 2018. (AFP)
Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina rose to ranking of 4th in the world.
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina celebrates with her winning trophy after defeating Sloane Stephens of the US in their singles final match at the WTA Finals tennis tournament in Singapore on Oct. 28, 2018. (AFP)
The head of the unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which will become independent from the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphanius, is 39 years old. He was elected at the unification council on Dec. 15
Ukraine climbed five positions to 71st out of 190 nations in the 2019 Ease of Doing Business ranking.
Rinat Akhmetov remains the richest person in Ukraine. His wealth has grown by 76 percent this year and is estimated at $12.2 billion.
20 students were killed and 35 injured in a school shooting in the Russian-occupied Crimean city of Kerch on Oct. 17.
Swedish clothing brand H&M opened two stores in Kyiv.
A record number of 4,500 troops marched and 250 military vehicles drove down Kyiv’s Khreshchatyk Avenue on the 27th Independence Day of Ukraine. And for the first time, servicewomen were part of the military march.
Ukrainian tanks drive along Khreschatyk Street during the Independence Day parade in Kyiv on Aug. 24, 2018. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Ukraine extended its ban on agricultural land sales for another year, until Jan. 1, 2020. It was first imposed in 2001 as a temporary measure.
