The russian strike on Ukraine's recently recaptured city of Kherson dealt on December 24 killed at least 10 people and wounded 58 more, leaving bloodied corpses on the streets of the city. The russian terrorists deliberately attacked crowded places with no military facilities nearby, namely a local market, a shopping center, and residential and administrative buildings.
According to Chief of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov, russia has acquired 1,700 so-called Shahed exploding drones from Iran under a contract reached over the summer. So far, it has fired about 540 of the said drones, not just in tactical strikes along the front line, but also in criminal barrages aimed at power plants, pylons for transmission lines, and electrical substations.
In his first visit out of his country since the beginning of the full-scale war, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky appealed for continued bipartisan support in a speech to the US Congress. Mere hours before this trip, he was at the front line in Donetsk Region’s Bakhmut, “every inch of [which] land is soaked in blood.”
Mr. Zelensky put a primary focus on offensive and protective capabilities, underscoring that Ukraine never asked the American soldiers to fight on Ukrainian lands instead of Ukrainians. "I assure you that Ukrainian soldiers can perfectly operate American tanks... and planes themselves," he said, an apparent nod to the US’ exploration of whether it could send US-made fighter jets to Ukraine.
Extending the Ukrainian people’s gratitude to Congresspeople and all Americans for their efforts in helping Ukraine, Ukraine’s President called the support that the US had already provided “an investment in global security and democracy” and added that Ukraine handles it “in the most responsible way.”
During Mr. Zelensky’s visit to the US, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken authorized the $1.85 billion in additional military assistance, which included the first transfer of Patriot Air Defense System.
On December 22, the US Senate, the upper chamber of Congress, passed a $1.7 trillion spending bill, including almost $45 billion in additional assistance for Ukraine and other US partners. The bill also included US Senator Lindsey Graham’s amendment, which would allow the seizing of assets from russian oligarchs and transferring them to Ukraine. On December 23, the spending bill was passed by the US House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress.
In an interview with RND, Head of the Bundestag defense committee Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said that “the russian [escalation] narrative is, apparently, working and preventing some in the [German] Chancellery from giving Ukraine the much-needed tanks.” She stressed that to her, such refusal demonstrates a lack of strategic planning and constitutes “a very big mistake.” “It makes me angry when I look back over the last few months and see the absurd discussions we had. How long it took for us to be able to help,” said Ms. Strack-Zimmermann. At the same time, the chairman of the Bundestag defense committee does not lose hope that Germany will supply battle tanks and armored personnel carriers to Ukraine next year.
Taras Melnychuk, the representative of Ukraine’s government in the Verkhovna Rada, noted that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine held 49 plenary sessions and considered 975 draft laws. According to him, the VRU approved 87 draft laws in the first reading and 399 laws were adopted in the second reading.
Mr. Melnychuk specified that the Cabinet of Ministers initiated a significant part of the adopted documents. In particular, according to him, the parliament considered 173 draft government-sponsored laws (18% of the total number considered). It adopted 29 draft laws sponsored by the government in the first reading (33% of the total number adopted in the first reading).
On December 21, draft resolution 8297 on his dismissal was registered on the VRU’s official website. The first attempt to dismiss Patskan was unsuccessful due to the lack of enough votes in the Parliament.
On December 19, the VRU Committee on State Building conducted the hearing in the format of open dialogue on the optimization of the administrative-territorial structure of Ukraine and its impact on elections. The event helped bring up urgent issues related to the formation of the administrative and territorial system and its main challenges caused by russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, as well as to preparing and holding elections in the post-war period in Ukraine. The event brought together MPs, government representatives, Central Election Commission, local government, and experts, allowing lawmakers to discuss legislation amendments with various stakeholders.
On December 20, the Program’s COP Ihor Kohut met with Viacheslav Shtuchnyi to discuss the Program’s contribution to the needs of the PRS, particularly the Program’s recommendations regarding PRS institutional changes. Participants also discussed the Program’s efforts to help enhance MPs’ engagement with their constituents. The Program will work towards establishing a fully functioning training center as part of the parliamentary research service, continuing to conduct trainings per request and providing the Secretariat with planned and urgent assistance within the comprehensive communication strategy of Ukraine’s Parliament.
On December 22, the Program’s partner, International Republican Institute, presented the national opinion poll on the performance of the representative function of the parliament, the work of MPs in the districts and regions, and interaction with voters, in particular, in wartime conditions to the VRU First Deputy Speaker to coordinate further dissemination of the poll.
together with the Parliamentary Institute (PRS in Czech Parliament). The seminars will take place on January 9-12, at 10-11:30 am Kyiv time.