Next year, Russia's defense spending will be increased to 6% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) from 3.9% this year and 2.7% in 2021, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 22.
President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Canadian Parliament on Sept. 22 after his talks with the country's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In his welcoming words at the House of Commons, Trudeau announced further aid for Ukraine, including 650 million Canadian dollars ($480 million) for 50 armored vehicles, as well as training on F-16 fighter jets.
Russian forces have again targeted settlements in Kherson Oblast, killing one person and wounding another one, regional authorities reported on Sept. 21. The oblast governor earlier said that multiple Russian attacks against the region had killed five civilians and wounded another 10 during the day.
The death of an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin is not something new in history. More than 20 critics and opponents of Putin have been murdered or died in suspicious circumstances since 2000. This is the first time when a member of Putin's inner circle was supposedly killed.
After being mired in corruption and political scandals for decades, Ukraine’s critically important Constitutional Court is now facing an attempt at reform, although its success is far from guaranteed. The issue took center stage when the reform of the Constitutional Court became one of the European Union’s key conditions for Ukraine’s membership after the country became a candidate for the bloc in June 2022. According to the law, international experts will take part in the selection of new Constitutional Court judges to make sure that they are independent and comply with integrity standards.