It was today’s diplomatic visit, Friday December 22, to kyiv. The brand new head of Polish diplomacy Radoslaw Sikorski assured that his country stands alongside Ukraine in its “titanic fight” against the Russian invasion, he said during his first visit to Kiev aimed at ease tensions between the two neighbors.
Information to remember
⇒ Three Russian fighter-bombers shot down
⇒ The Netherlands will deliver F16s
⇒ Ukrainian defense official arrested
Russia: a pacifist candidate excluded from the presidential election
The Russian Electoral Commission on Saturday ruled out the presidential candidacy of journalist and former municipal representative Ekaterina Dountsova, who campaigns for democracy and an end to the offensive in Ukraine.
The commission cited “errors in documents” submitted for the registration of her candidacy by Ekaterina Dountsova, Russian television said.
Three Russian fighter-bombers shot down
The Ukrainian air force claimed to have shot down three Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers in the south of the country on Friday, with President Volodymyr Zelensky specifying that this had happened in the Kherson region where fighting is raging. “Today at noon, three Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers were shot down in the southern operational zone,” Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk announced on Telegram.
In his speech on Friday evening, the president clarified that these planes had been shot down by missiles, and declared himself “grateful to our soldiers who destroyed three Russian Sukhoi planes at once. In the south – in our region of Kherson. “Let every Russian pilot know about our response to every Russian killer – none of them will go unpunished,” he added.
The Netherlands will deliver F16s
The Netherlands will deliver its “first” 18 American-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, the Dutch government announced Friday, at a time when Kiev faces increased pressure from Russia on the front.
“The Netherlands is making at least 18 F-16 combat aircraft available to Ukraine,” the Dutch Ministry of Defense said in a statement, without giving the delivery date of these highly anticipated aircraft.
Ukrainian defense official arrested for embezzlement
A senior Ukrainian Defense Ministry official has been arrested for embezzlement of some 36 million euros intended to purchase artillery shells, authorities said Friday, as the war-torn country faces a lack of ammunition. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, this senior official, whose identity has not been revealed, is accused of having “organized a system of embezzlement of budgetary funds during the award of public contracts” for an amount of 1.5 billion hryvnias. These diversions concerned the purchase of artillery shells for the armed forces at inflated prices, the body said in a press release.
“The director of one of the main services of the Ministry of Defense was placed in detention”, further indicated the Prosecutor’s Office, according to which searches by the security services at the accused’s home made it possible to “discover documents confirming illegal activities.
12 injured in Ukrainian drone attack on Donetsk
At least 12 people, including rescuers, were injured Friday by a Ukrainian drone attack on Donetsk, a large city in eastern Ukraine under Russian control, the occupation authorities announced.
“The dropping of a shell by a drone in the Kirov district of the regional capital left 12 injured today,” Denis Pushilin, head of the occupation in the Donetsk region and in the eponymous city, under Russian control since 2014.
“Mobilize” its economy to arm Ukraine
The new head of Polish diplomacy, Radoslaw Sikorski, visiting Kiev, called on Friday Europe and the United States to “mobilize” their economies and their production capacities to help Ukraine win the war against Russia .
“We cannot allow Russia to produce more on the basis of a much smaller economy […] If the West mobilizes, I have no doubt about its victory, but it must finally start to mobilize,” Radoslaw Sikorski told journalists.