Ukrainians continue to celebrate the liberation of the formerly occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson following the arrival of Ukrainian troops into the city on Friday.
The Ukrainian national anthem rang out in Kherson for the first time in eight months after Moscow pulled its forces out of the only regional capital it had captured since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24.
In his video address on Friday evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the “historic day” of Kherson’s return to Ukraine, pointing to the humanitarian and military work remaining to be done.
According to the US-based Institute for the Study of War, the battle for Ukraine’s southern Kherson region is not over, and Russian forces are now prioritizing delaying Ukrainian forces rather than seeking to halt the Ukrainian counteroffensive entirely.
Analysts predict a long, hard winter amidst continuing attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, with local officials bracing for a potential Russian response to what analysts are calling a significant strategic and symbolic defeat for Russia.
Source: PAP, Radio Poland
Democrats will retain control of the US Senate for another six years after results came in over the weekend showing incumbent Senator Catherine Cortez Masto narrowly winning re-election in Nevada.
Votes continue to be tabulated in last Tuesday’s midterm elections in the United States, with several races in the US House of Representatives still too close to call. The Senate race in Georgia will be decided in a runoff election on December 6 as no candidate received over 50% of the vote.
With the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris and the Senate’s two Independent members, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King Jr. of Maine, Democrats are now projected to have a voting majority in the US Senate.
In the US House of Representatives, Republicans were able to “flip” six districts from Democrat to Republican, giving them 211 confirmed seats to 203 for Democrats. In addition, at least 10 of the 21 currently undecided races are projected to go to the Republicans, giving the GOP a slim majority.
Source: Reuters, politico.com
The remains of the three Polish presidents-in-exile arrived in Poland yesterday after being transferred from a military cemetery in Newark, England.
The ashes of presidents Władysław Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski, and Stanisław Ostrowski were re-interred during a funeral ceremony at the newly created Mausoleum of the Presidents of the Republic of Poland housed in the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw.
Prime Minister Mateusz Mateusz Morawiecki welcomed the culmination of the nearly five-year effort to bring the remains back to Poland. Speaking at Warsaw’s Okęcie Military Airport on Saturday afternoon, Morawiecki declared that the three former presidents “are returning to their homeland…they are coming where they belong. Now, they will forever witness the truth, continuation, and dream of a great Poland.”
The three were among six presidents who led the Polish government in exile established in the aftermath of the invasion and occupation of Poland in September 1939 by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The government in exile continued to function throughout the period of Communist rule in Poland, only disbanding in 1990 after the first democratic elections in Poland in 1989.
Source: Radio Poland, Radio Gdańsk
President Andrzej Duda recently awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta to thirteen people distinguished for their service to the Polish state and society.
Among those honored was Czesław Nowak, president of the “Godność” or „Dignity” Association, which brings together former members of the famous “Solidarity” movement, including anti-communist opposition activists and those, like Nowak, who were political prisoners during the period from 1981-89.
Since 1994, Nowak has been the president of the “Dignity” Association, an organization he co-founded to commemorate the history of the democratic opposition in the times of the People’s Republic of Poland, particularly in the Gdańsk region.
According to the Institute of National Remembrance (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej), the Dignity association works to defend the ideals of Solidarity, punish those guilty of communist crimes, and remove judges and prosecutors engaged in political trials in the People’s Republic of Poland.
Source: Radio Gdańsk, ipn.gov.pl
Weather
Today will be cool and cloudy, with a slight chance of rain in the early afternoon and a very light breeze coming in from the southeast. Temperatures will peak around a high of 12°C, or 54°F, dropping to a low of 8°C or 47°F overnight. Sunnier but colder weather is expected for tomorrow, with temperatures set to drop close to freezing as the week progresses.
Elizabeth Peck/pb
