Kiev budget sets two records, three more Russian businessmen have their assets frozen, Moscow insists it did not do this

On October 6, on her Facebook page, the head of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Budget Committee Roksolana Pidlasa said that the legislature had approved an increase in defense spending worth 303 billion hryvnia ($8.28 billion) for the remainder of 2023.

Tình hình Ukraine: Ngân sách Kiev lập hai kỷ lục trong lịch sử, phong toả tài sản của doanh nhân Nga, Moscow khẳng định

Situation in Ukraine: Scene of the attack in the village of Hroza, Ukraine on October 5. (Source: Ministry of Emergency Situations of Ukraine)

The amount will bring this year's budget spending on Ukraine's security and defense sector to 1,670 billion hryvnia, accounting for 26.6% of GDP.

According to the Ukrainian Finance Ministry, 225 billion hryvnia will be used to financially support military personnel and 78 billion hryvnia will be used to purchase military equipment and other necessary expenses.

Meanwhile, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak commented that the above amendments have set two records in the history of Ukraine: the general budget target for the first time exceeds 3,390 billion Hryvnia and the deficit will be more than 2,000 billion Hryvnia.

* On October 6, a Ukrainian court froze the assets of three Russian businessmen for allegedly supporting Russia's conflict in Ukraine.

According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the assets of businessmen Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven and Andrey Kosogov have been frozen. These businessmen are considered to be among those close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and contribute to "large-scale financing of the armed conflict of the Russian Federation".

“At the request of prosecutors… the assets of 20 Ukrainian companies with a total value of more than 17 billion hryvnia ($464.48 million) have been frozen,” the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement on Telegram .

The frozen assets are securities and corporate rights of mobile phone operators, a mineral water producer, financial and insurance companies, according to the office.

Since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, Kiev has repeatedly confiscated and nationalized the assets of Russian businessmen involved in financing the conflict.

* The Kremlin on October 6 reaffirmed that the Russian military did not attack civilian targets in Ukraine. The statement was made after an airstrike on the village of Hroza in northeastern Ukraine killed 52 people.

Rescue workers are searching for bodies under the rubble after what Kiev said was one of the deadliest attacks by Russian forces on civilians since the start of the military campaign.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov affirmed that Russia only attacked Ukraine's military infrastructure, as well as the concentration of its military and military leadership.

Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has deployed a team to the scene to investigate the attack. According to Elizabeth Throssell, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the team will speak to survivors of the attack and gather information about the incident.

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