Time's Person of the Year title for Zelenskyy and Spirit of Ukraine, shelling of Kurakhove: today's highlights

Successes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

During the day on December 7, Ukrainian aviation conducted 11 strikes on the areas of concentration of personnel, weapons, and military hardware of the Russian troops, as well as struck at the positions of the occupiers' anti-aircraft missile systems. This is stated in the evening report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

The units of the missile troops and artillery of the Ukrainian Defense Forces hit three control points, two areas of personnel concentration, an area of artillery concentration, and two ammunition depots of the occupiers. Ukrainian defenders also shot down a Shahed-136 attack drone.

Shelling of Kurakhove

On December 7, Russian occupation troops shelled Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast again. This was reported by Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko.

According to him, the Russians shelled the town with multiple rocket launchers. The market, the bus station, gas stations, and residential buildings came under fire. Information on the consequences of the attack is currently being clarified.

The head of the Donetsk Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko reported that 8 people were killed and 5 more were wounded.

Time magazine named “Person of the Year” Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the “spirit of Ukraine”

American Time magazine awarded the title of “Person of the Year” to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the “spirit of Ukraine”. This is stated on the website of the publication.

Time says that many Ukrainians at the beginning of the invasion decided not to flee, but grabbed any weapons they could find and ran to defend their cities and towns from the heavily armed Russian army.

According to the journalists, Zelenskyy's success as a wartime leader relied on the fact that courage is contagious. This courage spread among Ukraine's political leadership in the first days of the invasion, when everyone realized that the president had not fled the country, Time reports.

Security Service of Ukraine continues searches at the facilities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Law enforcement officers continue security measures on the territory of the facilities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in Cherkasy, Volyn and Kherson Oblasts. This is reported by the press service.

The facilities are being checked together with the police and the National Guard. The searches are conducted to make it impossible to use religious communities as centers of the “Russian world” and places for provocations and terrorist attacks.

US budget for 2023

The Armed Services Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate have agreed on the United States defense budget for 2023. This is stated in a joint statement of the committees.

According to the draft, the defense budget for 2023 will amount to $ 857.9 billion, of which $ 816.7 billion will go to the Ministry of Defense, and $ 30.3 billion to the Ministry of Energy.

It is also proposed to allocate $800 million to support Ukraine next year, which is $500 million more than the White House requested. In addition, the US Department of Defense is required to present a plan of short-term and long-term assistance to Ukraine.