Hacker attack on Justice Ministry registers, return of bodies of fallen defenders: December 20 highlights

Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv

Ukrainian Defense Forces shot down five missiles and 40 drones that Russian troops launched over Ukraine overnight on December 19. Another 20 drones were lost on radar.

Rocket debris caused destruction in five districts of the capital . There are dead and injured .

Ukraine returns bodies of fallen soldiers and delivers parcels to prisoners

The bodies of 503 fallen defenders were returned to the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government.

In addition, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets delivered 1,500 parcels and letters to prisoners of war held in Russia.

Ministry of Justice registers were subjected to a cyber attack

The largest external cyber attack in recent times has been carried out on the state registers of Ukraine. The registers under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice have been temporarily suspended.

In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was forced to suspend a number of registration services, and Diia announced that almost 30 services were temporarily unavailable. However, the cyberattack did not affect other state information systems, including the Diia application.

The SBU Security Service opened a case due to the cyber attack.

Zelenskyy approved the appointment of more than 30 ambassadors

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his diplomatic team have approved more than 30 new appointments to the positions of Ukrainian ambassadors.

In particular, Nariman Dzhelal will now be the ambassador to Türkiye, Andrij Melnyk will be Ukraine's representative to the UN, and Alyona Getmanchuk will be Ukraine's representative to NATO.

Commander of 211th Brigade, where soldiers were abused, was released on bail

The commander of the 211th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleh Poberezhnyuk, was released from custody on bail of 908,400 hryvnias ($21,666). The prosecutor's office is not yet reporting whether he posted the bail himself or someone posted it for him.

FT learns Trump team promised allies to continue arming Ukraine

The team of newly elected US President Donald Trump has told allies that he will continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine, the Financial Times newspaper wrote.

He previously threatened to stop financial aid to Kyiv.

Other news

• The DeepState project wrote that the Russians had captured the territory of the so-called Uspenivka cul-de-sac, from which not all Ukrainian soldiers were allegedly able to leave. The Khortytsia troop grouping says this is not true.
• The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is involved in preparing the upcoming visit of Keith Kellogg, US President-elect Donald Trump's special representative for the war in Ukraine. The date is already set.
• The Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, has published his book My War, the first in a trilogy.
• Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups tried to advance towards Kherson, but Ukrainian defenders destroyed them. At the same time, the Russian troops massively shelled the city: about 1,000 shells struck the city in 40 minutes.