International
A total of 43 civilians have been killed as a result of the Russian attacks on Monday
A total of 43 civilians have died so far in Ukraine as a result of the massive attack launched by Russia against Kiev and the Dnipropetrovsk region during Monday.
The death toll in the Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital continues to grow as the debris debris work progresses and already stands at 31 civilian fatalities, according to the latest part offered by the Kiev Military Administration, which figures 117 injured.
On the other hand, Russia denounced a massive Ukrainian drone attack against five regions of the south and the center of the country.
In addition, Ukraine’s health facilities have suffered 1,884 attacks since the Russian invasion, in which 150 people have died and 379 have suffered injuries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said a day after a children’s hospital in Kiev was hit by a missile.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, which so far has not reported any victims, the air defense systems shot down a total of 38 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones last night.
The military side specified that the enemy drones were shot down in the regions of Belgorod (3), Kursk (7), Voronezh (2), Rostov (21) and Astrajan (5).
Although last night’s drone attack did not cause casualties in the Belgorod region, the governor of that border entity with Ukraine, Viacheslav Gladkov, denounced on his Telegram channel that yesterday four civilians were killed and another 20 were injured by Ukrainian artillery fire.
In the Rostov region, a drone hit an electrical substation and caused a fire, which was extinguished by firefighters, the governor of the entity, Vasili Gólubev, reported in Telegran.
According to the authorities of the Astrajan region, the airstrike caused a fuel tank to fire.
For security reasons, the airports of the cities of Astrajan and Volgograd restricted their operations.
The governor of the Volgograd region, Andrei Bocharov, reported that due to the fall of fragments of drones shot down by the anti-aircraft defense, there were fires in an electric substation and a fuel tank.
In addition, a joint attack with drones from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and military intelligence (GUR) last night caused several fires at a military airfield in the Russian region of Astrajan and on energy infrastructures of the Russian oblasts of Rostov and Volgograd, according to sources from both Ukrainian services to the Ukrainska Pravda publication.
These attacks occurred after yesterday Russia launched dozens of missiles against several cities in Ukraine, causing about 40 deaths and more than a hundred injuries.
The Kremlin denied that the Russian Army is hitting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, after yesterday’s attack.
On the other hand, about 400 members of the Ukrainian emergency services continue to work on rescue work at the Ojmatdit children’s hospital in Kiev and in other places in the capital affected by the missile attack that Russia launched on Monday against the city, as explained on Tuesday by the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenski.
“In the places where the missiles hit, emergency and rescue work has not stopped all night,” Zelenski wrote in a message published on his social networks in which he confirms that the death toll from Monday’s Russian attack on Kiev and the Dnipropetrovsk region, in central Ukraine, is currently 38 victims. Of these, 31 lost their lives in the Ukrainian capital.
Zelenski also wrote that his administration continues to work “to strengthen the protection” of Ukrainian cities from Russian attacks. “There will be decisions. The world has the necessary strength for it,” added Zelenski, who will arrive in Washington today to participate in the NATO summit.
Ukraine hopes to obtain new decisions from its allies at the summit that will allow it to better defend itself from Russian airstrikes like yesterday’s.
Kiev asks for total freedom to hit, with weapons from its partners, enemy military targets within the territory of the Russian Federation and to be able to neutralize the attacks of the Russian Army at the origin and in a preventive way.
The United States and other allies continue to impose restrictions on the use of their weapons in Russian territory for fear of Moscow’s reaction.
International
Mexico requests extradition of ‘Mini Lic’ for murder of journalist Javier Valdez
The Mexican government has requested the extradition of Dámaso López Serrano, a former high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, who is accused of masterminding the 2017 murder of Mexican journalist Javier Valdez, the Attorney General’s Office announced on Tuesday.
López Serrano, known as “Mini Lic,” was arrested last Friday in Virginia, United States, on charges of fentanyl trafficking, a crime he committed while on parole.
“This is the key issue for us, he [López Serrano] is the mastermind of this murder. The rest of the perpetrators are already processed and in jail, he was the one missing,” said Attorney General Alejandro Gertz.
“We immediately made the extradition request,” the official added during the routine morning press conference of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Valdez, an award-winning reporter specializing in drug trafficking and correspondent for AFP and the newspaper La Jornada, was murdered on May 15, 2017, in front of the office of his magazine Riodoce in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state.
“Mini Lic” was originally arrested in 2017 when he voluntarily turned himself in to U.S. authorities and pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. In 2022, he was released on parole.
Gertz confirmed that the Mexican Attorney General’s Office had requested López Serrano’s extradition “countless times,” but Washington had declined to act on the request because he had become a “protected witness” for the U.S. government and “was providing a lot of information.”
“Now, with this situation where they themselves are acknowledging that this individual is still committing crimes, I think there are more than enough reasons for them to support us,” the prosecutor added.
The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and was founded by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
Culiacán has been shaken by a wave of murders since the arrest of Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, another key leader of the cartel alongside Guzmán, on July 25 in New Mexico, United States.
International
Cuba’s government stresses openness to serious, respectful U.S. relations
Cuba reiterated on Tuesday its willingness to engage in dialogue with the United States, just weeks before Republican President Donald Trump assumes office. During his first term, Trump halted the historic rapprochement between the two countries, which had been initiated just ten years earlier by Democrat Barack Obama.
“It will not be Cuba that proposes or takes the initiative to suspend the existing dialogues, to suspend the existing cooperation. Not even the discreet exchanges on some sensitive issues,” said Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Fernández de Cossío at a press conference in Havana.
“We will be attentive to the attitude of the new government, but Cuba’s stance will remain the same as it has been for the last 64 years. We are willing to develop a serious, respectful relationship with the United States, one that protects the sovereign interests of both countries,” he added.
His statements come on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the historic rapprochement announcement between Washington and Havana.
On December 17, 2014, Cuban leader Raúl Castro (2006-2021) and Barack Obama (2008-2016) announced the beginning of a thaw in relations, which led to the restoration of diplomatic ties in 2015, after more than half a century of confrontation.
This process of thawing bilateral relations was later halted by businessman Donald Trump, who significantly reinforced economic sanctions against the communist-ruled country. The Republican will return to the White House on January 20.
Cuba, under a U.S. trade embargo since 1962, was re-listed in 2021 on the “blacklist of countries supporting terrorism,” blocking financial and economic flows to the island of 10 million inhabitants.
Subsequently, the administration of current Democratic President Joe Biden made only slight adjustments to the sanctions and also kept Cuba on this list. However, his administration resumed bilateral contacts with Havana on migration issues and the fight against terrorism.
International
Mexican government to use church atriums for gun surrender program to combat violence
The atriums of Mexican Catholic churches will be used for the voluntary surrender of weapons in exchange for economic and legal incentives as part of a plan announced on Tuesday by the government to reduce violence.
According to the Mexican government, there is a link between the illegal trafficking of weapons—almost entirely coming from the United States—and the spiral of criminal violence that has plagued the country since late 2006, when a controversial military anti-drug offensive was launched.
“The idea is to set up areas in the church atriums where people can voluntarily surrender their weapons, and in return, they will receive financial resources based on the weapon they are turning in,” explained President Claudia Sheinbaum during her regular press conference.
The left-wing leader emphasized that the program, called “Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace,” guarantees that those who surrender their weapons will not face any “investigation.”
“What we want is to disarm. This will be implemented next year. We also did it in Mexico City, and it had significant results,” added the former mayor of the capital, with a population of 9.2 million.
The disarmament plan is part of the government’s “comprehensive security strategy,” one of whose pillars is promoting a culture of peace, especially in regions severely affected by organized crime violence, Sheinbaum pointed out.
More than 450,000 people have been murdered in Mexico since the government launched its military-led anti-drug operation, alongside about 100,000 people who have gone missing.
Despite being a secular state, the Mexican Catholic Church has played a key role in efforts to contain violence, with priests acting as mediators between citizens and criminals. Several clergy members have been killed for this cause.
Just last week, the Catholic hierarchy called on cartels to declare a truce in their violent actions during the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12 and the upcoming Christmas holidays.
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