New US defense budget, €2.5 billion from the Netherlands for Ukraine, fires in Russia: today's highlights

Biden signs defense budget for 2023 with $800 million for Ukraine

US President Joe Biden has signed into law a record $858 billion defense budget for the United States for 2023. The signing of the law was reported in the White House.

This document provides for US defense programs about $ 45 billion more than Biden requested and about 10% more than last year's bill. U.S. lawmakers are seeking to account for inflation and increase the United States' military competitiveness with China and Russia.

Among the planned spending is $800 million for defense assistance under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

Territorial defense destroyed a Russian subversive reconnaissance group in Sumy Oblast

On the morning of December 22, fighters of the territorial defense of Sumy Oblast destroyed a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group. This was reported by the head of the regional military administration Dmytro Zhyvitsky.

According to him, a group of Russian military crossed the state border. On the territory of the Krasnopil community near the village of Vysoke, the territorial defense fighters engaged in a battle with the Russian subversive group.

“After a short battle the enemy suffered losses – at least two were killed. There were no losses on our side,” he noted.

The Netherlands allocates €2.5 billion to help Ukraine in 2023

The Government of the Netherlands allocates 2.5 billion euros to assist Ukraine in various areas during 2023. This was announced by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte.

These funds will be used for military goods, humanitarian assistance, diplomatic support, infrastructure restoration, and investigation of war crimes.

“Ukraine can rely on the Netherlands. We just confirmed this in our conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” Rutte wrote.

Fires in Russia

In Russia, several facilities belonging to law enforcement agencies caught fire on the same day. This is reported by Russian media and Telegram channels.

According to the Russian media, a fire broke out in the building of the OMON of the National Guard of Russia in Moscow. The fire broke out on the 7th floor in the room for storage of bulletproof vests.

According to the Baza portal, a fire broke out in a military unit in the Eastern Administrative District of Moscow. According to preliminary data, the fire occurred in garage boxes located on the territory of the unit.

In the Saratov region of Russia, unknown persons set fire to a military enlistment office. The fire broke out in the building of the military commissariat in the village of Ivantiyivka.

Russian troops shelled Kherson

Russian troops shelled the civilian infrastructure of Kherson in the afternoon on December 23. This was reported by Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko.

The occupiers hit the Korabelnyi district. As a result, 2 people were killed, the Regional Military Administration reported. The houses of civilians were also damaged.

The head of Kherson Regional Military Administration Yaroslav Yanushevych also noted that the territory of the kindergarten came under fire. The blast wave and debris smashed windows in the building.