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On the ground, several Russian drones attacked Kiev overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, at least two strikes targeted the city of Kharkiv, in western Ukraine, and nine people were injured in bombings in Kherson, in the south of the country, authorities announced.
⇒ Putin promises a harsh response to foreign special services
⇒ No new US funds for Ukraine in 2023
⇒ 16 candidates were submitted for the presidential election
Putin advocates “tough” response to foreign special services
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called for a “severe” response to foreign special services who, according to him, seek to destabilize Russia by helping the Ukrainian regime. “The Kiev regime with the direct support of foreign special services has taken the path of terrorist methods, practically state terrorism,” said Vladimir Putin, in a video address on the occasion of the Day of Public Security Officers .
“These are acts of sabotage against civilian sites, transport and energy infrastructure, attacks against civilian citizens and representatives of the authorities,” he continued.
16 presidential candidacies
The Electoral Commission has received to date 16 candidacies for the presidential election in mid-March in Russia, including that of President Vladimir Putin, in power since 2000 and whose re-election is beyond doubt, with no form of opposition being tolerated. in the country.
“At present, the files of 16 candidates have already been received,” said Ella Pamfilova, president of the Electoral Commission, on Wednesday, quoted by Russian news agencies.
Russian strikes on kyiv and Kharkiv
Several Russian drones attacked kyiv overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, at least two strikes targeted the city of Kharkiv in western Ukraine, and nine people were injured in bombings in Kherson in southern Ukraine. country, authorities announced. “During the bombing of Kherson this evening by the Russian occupiers, nine people were injured, including four children” aged two to thirteen, the city’s mayor, Roman Mrochko, said on Telegram.
United States: no envelope for Ukraine by the end of the year
No new American funds for Ukraine in 2023: the heads of the United States Senate noted on Tuesday the fact that Congress would end the year without validating the envelope of 61 billion dollars insistently demanded by kyiv and the House -White.
Republican and Democratic negotiators have not reached an agreement, despite repeated pressure from US President Joe Biden and calls from his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. The leaders of the Senate, Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Mitch McConnell, said they hoped to be able to vote on this aid “early next year”.
‘No one’ knows when war with Russia will end, Zelensky warns
The Ukrainian president warned Tuesday that “no one” could predict the date of the end of the war against Russia while ensuring, despite the signs of crumbling Western support, that the United States would not “betray” Ukraine. Furthermore, the country will produce “one million drones” for its army in 2024, Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Tuesday, as these devices play a crucial role in the war against Russia.
Strong Sino-Russian ties are a “strategic choice”
Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that maintaining close ties with Russia was a “strategic choice” and called for even deeper bilateral cooperation during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Beijing.
“Maintaining and developing relations between China and Russia is a strategic choice made by both parties, based on the fundamental interests of our two peoples,” according to remarks by Xi Jinping reported by Chinese state media CCTV.