you are watching the voice of america ukrainian service program chas teim, my name is maria olyanovska, congratulations. republicans in the senate blocked the start of voting on financial aid to ukraine, israel, support for the indo-pacific region and security measures on the southern border of the united states. the position did not receive the necessary 60 votes, which means that lawmakers will be forced to return to negotiations. at the same time, until winter. congress is weeks away, let's talk with our congresswoman about whether there are chances that aid to ukraine will be approved before the new year correspondent kateryna lisunova. hello katya. greetings maria. please tell me what this decision of the senate means and when should we expect a second vote? republicans are currently working on new proposals to strengthen immigration laws in the united states of america. and if these new proposals are the ones that both republicans and democrats agree to, then in the end, ukraine will still be helped.

vote in the congress, but when it will happen and whether it will happen at all is currently unknown, in fact everything depends on the negotiations between republicans and democrats that are going on right now, but it's worth noting that there's barely a week left for these negotiations in congress, this week and next week, that is, in fact next week is the last week when lawmakers will have time to conduct these negotiations, about why the republicans decided to block the beginning of the debate on... ukraine and how the democrats actually reacted to it, i suggest you listen. yesterday was a sad day for the senate, for the country and for our friends in ukraine, israel and around the world. while our values democracy is at stake, republicans in the senate have blocked the start of consideration of a much- needed bill on funding for ukraine, israel, on humanitarian aid for gaza and for indochina. ocean

region. it is better to defend democracy with american resources today than with american lives tomorrow. this is the danger of pandering to tyrants like vladimir putin. yesterday, all senate republicans rejected the democratic leader's attempt to separate border security from national security. we've been saying for weeks that it's useless an effort that was doomed from the start. hopefully, the senate will now be able to take advantage of this new opportunity to make real progress on legislation that addresses pressing national security priorities, both at home and abroad. katy, actually, to mitch mcconnell's comment, the white house's request for additional funding already includes funds to strengthen border security with mexico. and yesterday, president biden said that he was ready to make concessions on the border, but he also noted that the republic ... is not willing

to seek a compromise, what do they demand? that's right, maria, in fact, the issue is not only in the border of the united states of america with mexico, for the strengthening of which funds have already been prescribed in the package originally requested by the white house. in fact, the republicans demand to change the immigration legislation in the united states of america and go to the legislation that existed during the time of donald trump, which means to resume the construction of the wall on the border of the united states of america with mexico. also take stricter measures against illegal immigrants in of the united states of america, and to more seriously screen those who are in the united states of america in refugee status, as well as temporary stay status, by the so -called password. and this means that such changes to migration legislation may also affect ukrainians who came to the united states of america after the full-scale invasion. house democrats oppose such radical changes and claim that they

will not go for them, instead, republicans claim that to help, preserve the border, to secure the border, you need your partners starting with the security of your own border, but what exactly are the differences between the republicans and the democrats regarding immigration legislation, i suggest you listen right now. republicans have spent years urging the administration to begin meeting minimum obligations. on the security of our southern border and the enforcement of our country's laws, right now, because of the crisis caused by the biden administration, 3,000 illegal immigrants enter the us every month, that's almost like the population of an entire city lexington, kentucky, who arrive every month, because of abuses of asylum laws and temporary residence permits that clearly need fixing, illegal immigrants are entering the country easily. it is short-sighted of

republicans to suddenly suspend aid to ukraine, which they say they support, and demand that we address the issue. don that had been a problem for years and solved it in a matter of days. still, we democrats were willing to give it a try. for three weeks, democrats sat down at the negotiating table with our republican colleagues to see if something could be done about the border now. we 've been talking for three weeks, but the talks have actually fallen into an even bigger crisis after speaker johnson said that the only thing republicans in the house would vote for . this is donald trump's extreme immigration policy. katin, in fact, even if the senators find a compromise, the bill will still have to pass a vote in the house of representatives. is it known what the situation is there? in fact, the ongoing negotiations now between republicans and democrats, are being conducted not only in the senate, but in the house of representatives. and in particular

, the speaker of the house of representatives participates in them, who actually became the person who proposed to return to the migration legislation of donald trump, and it is he who insists on this. yes, if the democrats. if the republicans come to a consensus now, then it will happen in both houses, both in the senate and in the house of representatives. thank you, katya, i will remind you that i will pass funding for ukraine in the american congress, to us said kateryna lisunova. meanwhile, the white house announced new steps to strengthen, cooperate and co-produce between the us and ukrainian defense industrial bases. on wednesday, the ministries of defense of the united states, ukraine and the ministry of strategic industries of ukraine signed a statement of intent on joint production and exchange of technical data. this statement will facilitate the faster passage of investment agreements - the white house reports. in addition, the united states has created an interagency team that will assist the ukrainian and american companies to enter into agreements. the usa will also send an adviser to ukraine. he should advise ukrainians on accelerating ukraine's transition to operational interoperability with

partner armed forces, fighting corruption, and attracting foreign investment. the parties agreed on this during the american-ukrainian defense and industrial conference, which is ongoing in washington. speaking at the opening of the event, us defense minister lloyd austin emphasized: ukraine's ability to produce critical weapons inside the country, important for long-term strengthening of state security. he announced the role that american companies can play in this and also did not miss the opportunity to call on the american congress to approve the request for additional funding for ukraine. a large part of the allocated funds is returned to the usa, where weapons for ukrainian needs are produced - the minister reminded. i hope that congress will soon approve the president's urgent request for additional funding for national security needs, which will include $50 billion to go to the american industrial base, so much of the money in the request will come back to us through investment in

american jobs, and all of the money will come back to us through investment in american security, while at the same time we have to expand ukraine's capabilities, maintain a number of different systems and platforms. provided by allies and partners from around the world. in addition, on thursday, the representative of the us national security council, john kirby, noted that the united states is trying to make sure that ukraine will have a healthy defense industry. long-term security assistance is built into their own self-defense, ukraine will need it regardless of how this war ends, the official emphasized. in the meantime , the american congress and the british foreign minister, where cameron is now in the usa on a visit to support ukraine, called to approve a new package for ukraine. if they don't vote for this money, only two people will smile, one of them is vladimir putin in russia, and the other is xi jinping in beijing, cameron emphasized. in a comment to my colleague tatyana voroshko. the british official also

said whether european countries will be able to cover the lack of funds if the us delays the provision of aid. great britain and other european. allies continue to support ukraine, i was at the nato summit in brussels, there was incredible support for ukraine, and frankly, the nato alliance has expanded, finland and sweden have joined, but it is obvious that america is a key partner, it is the world's largest economy, the largest defense player, vitally important so let's keep talking about what role it plays. one of my arguments, yes, it's a lot of money, but in what it gives, in the way it gives support to the brave ukrainian people, it's the right investment for america. meanwhile , russia intensified its attempts to spread propaganda in the countries of latin america. local media and social networks will spread

information about alleged nazis in ukraine, the danger of nato and washington, as well as about the kremlin as a reliable ally for the region. the us state department believes that the purpose of the russian information campaign in the region. support for ukraine and promote anti-american ideas. how propaganda affects the opinion of citizens in latin american countries and the decisions of politicians, as well as how ukraine can counter russian disinformation. further in the story of iryna shinkarenko. javier vrox is the host of a political program on the chilean youtube channel and often joins the action in support of kyiv. he says that russian propaganda is active in chile, which is especially noticeable recently in social networks, where so-called opinion leaders actively talk about ukrainian nazis, speculate on the past of the president of ukraine as an actor and position the kremlin as an ally of latin america. i think they are doing a good job of bringing in opinion leaders from twitter, which

is now ex to share video messages and posts to create the opinion that if you are a friend of the us, you are an enemy of chile. chileans do not really support ukraine, they think that ukrainians are trying to manipulate the people, or to look like victims, but president čirli gabriel borych supports zelskyi's government, so a strange situation has developed. the russian government is funding a new disinformation campaign. in latin america, the purpose of which is to undermine support for ukraine and promote anti-nato and anti-american ideas, the us state department announced this at the beginning of november. according to him, in one of the latin american countries, most likely chile, moscow gathered a group of journalists and public opinion leaders from different countries of the region so that they would receive content from russia and make it close to latin american viewers, and the basis for new waves of russian propaganda in the region well prepared moscow. even during the cold war. however, with russia's attack on ukraine not in

february 2022, but with the annexation of crimea in 2014 , that is when russia's influence, or its attempts to influence narratives in the western hemisphere in 2014, 2015, 2016, will be noticeable. in the 16th year, for example, rasha today started working in chile and mexico and, it seems, also in argentina. so, this is the beginning of coordinated... to show russia in a different light, even as it sends little green men to take over crimea. and with the full-scale invasion of russia into ukraine, analysts say, russian propaganda in the region has intensified even more. a recent report by the american peace institute states that, in addition to social media, the key players in the information campaign in latin america are branches of the russian state media, in particular , the spanish-language version of the rasha today tv channel , which offers latin audiences propaganda content in an expensive and bright wrapper. we know they have

offices in havana, buenos aires, caracas. we know that they have more than 200 spanish-speaking, so -called journalists working in moscow. it pure propaganda, but the content is so well thought out, well chosen, they allocate resources to find professional people and good content, or is it i think many people will say that the governments of latin america are not supporting ukraine in the war of aggression as much as they should do. studies show that propaganda works, synopsis polls cited by the peace institute show that at the end of february 2022, 65% of argentines condemned the russian invasion of ukraine, but a quarter rated moscow's position as good. another poll testified that 15% of mexicans support ukraine. but 70% adhere to neutrality, and this position, they say, we are for peace, is beneficial

to russia - says the washington center for strategic and international studies. i think there were very few people in latin america who thought the russian invasion was just. rather, their goal is to convince people that it is not only russia's fault, that there is guilt on both sides, that this is actually a war caused mainly by nato and the us, and in fact, they are trying to make the region neutral we are not talking about cuba, nicaragua and venezuela, which are usually completely on the side of russia. we are talking about the rest of the region and trying to keep it politically neutral. ambassadors of ukraine in latin america say that, in addition to media propaganda , a whole diplomatic army of russians has been working in the region since soviet times. ukraine, for example , only recently, after a 17-year break , accredited ambassadors to colombia and ecuador. russian ambassadors, russian ambassador. are part of the propaganda machine of the russian federation here, that is, since ancient times, as is customary, they are

carry out their work here, and there , so that you understand, this is not an embassy, ​​where there are almost five people, this is an embassy of 60, 70, 80 people, and imagine what you can do with such a group of people, there , according to our, our data, some of them work in the foreign intelligence service there, we have six embassies in 33 countries, you understand, in some embassies there are three to five people, this is not a set, we need to supplement it, we need to train new personnel, in addition, many so-called russian forces have arrived in latin america, which can also influence the region, only in about 35,000 immigrants from russia have settled in argentina since the beginning of the full-scale war, says ambassador of ukraine yuriy klymenko. it is necessary to clearly understand who is who, because among these 3,500 russians who have arrived here

, i am sure that there are representatives of the russian special services who are trying, better ... their positions. long-term investments in propaganda bring russia practical results, only costa rica is the only one in the region that has joined the regime of sanctions against the kremlin. ambassadors of ukraine to latin american countries say that kyiv was invisible to latin america for quite a long time, and this needs to be corrected. let's start with the fact that we have almost no... there are books about ukraine, about ukrainian history, cuisine, there, culture, and so on, in spanish or portuguese, there are almost no books, there are very few of them, in fact very few, in our country there is no information agency that is really on the scale of the spanish-speaking world that could professionally carry out all this, imagine that there are 600 million people on the planet earth who speak spanish, the russians

are used, the visits of argentinian journalists to ukraine are important. which have actually become regular, argentinian journalists visiting ukraine individually, visits by argentine journalists as part of representatives of latin american media and their meetings with the top management. ukrainian ambassadors say that due to the war in ukraine in latin america, the positions of russian diplomats have shaken, so this is an opportunity for kyiv to take advantage... dmytro savchuk, voice of america. in order not to miss relevant and true news, subscribe to pages of the voice of america ukrainian in social networks. we are moving on to

history from ukraine. odessa is one of the cities that russia is constantly shelling. last winter , russian attacks caused regular power outages in the city. anna kostyuchenko and pavel sukhodolsky learned how odesa prepared for winter this year and how the city's energy security was supported by the united states agency for international development usaid. the municipal enterprise of heat supply of the city of odessa is the main state organization that provides the city with warmth - says its manager hanna pozniakova. on the balance sheet of the enterprise there are more than 150 boiler houses. last winter, because the russians were constantly shelling the substations, odessans suffered without heating and hot water. however, this year the united states agency for international development usaid provided 100% boiler plants with generators - says hanna. this will not stop the supply of heat during probable shutdowns due to new shelling. we didn't have that

many generators last year. we were forced to stop, after all, especially this winter. under during low temperatures, we will be sure that our systems, our houses, our highways, they will be intact, and we will be able to resume full-fledged work already after the energy companies restore the power supply. cooperation of the odessa utility company with the american agency for international development began in 2020. last year, usaid provided odesa with excavators, modern emergency vehicles, and even the necessary fittings for the rapid restoration of heat supply. in general, by more than 4,000 generators for schools, hospitals and utilities were provided to ukraine , says bridget brink, the us ambassador to ukraine. the united states embassy is confident that russia will continue its constant shelling of critical infrastructure this year, and therefore

helped ukraine to prepare for this in advance. we see that the 4,000 provided is still being used today, and we continue to provide the necessary humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable ukrainians. this will help ukraine not only this winter, but also in the future, because it strengthens it local power generation capacity and will contribute to ukraine's energy independence, after ukraine wins and peace prevails. this odesa polyclinic decided to insure itself against possible power outages due to russian shelling with the help of... solar panels, says director of the institution serhii horishchak. first, the generation of electricity and the possibility of its accumulation are combined here, because many projects have it. or only when the sun is there and it works, or only when there are batteries and they give, well, if they are charged. we have it combined models, so the sun charges our batteries, and

the batteries then, if necessary, provide electricity to our facility, this project, worth about 75 thousand euros, was implemented in 2023 under a grant program within the framework of the concept of energy security of odessa with the support of german partners from the federal ministry of economic cooperation now the polyclinic actually does not depend on the supply of the regional energy company, which means that it does not depend on possible power outages in the city. we will receive only 0.16 w from the network from our oblenergo, that is, we have none there is no need at all to take something from the city, and that is why we now need 24-hour polyclinics. and it is enough that the sun generates all these things, and it can be seen, not directly here, but we open the application, it is synchronized and

we can literally in the reality of time receive the same information as it is generated, we have a clear understanding there , when it was cloudy, when, how it was charging, all these things, well, statistically, they even show how many trees we saved. solar panels, even in the first six months of use , they helped the hospital save significantly on electricity - says director horishchak. we can already see that these are savings specifically for electricians, and in a short period of time there are already about uah 1,000, this is savings, direct savings. well , the most important thing is independence, it is very important, at the moment, because it is the hybrid station, where there is both storage and generation, that's all... it allows us to be independent from different stories. now the odesa polyclinic can become another point of indomitability, where odesa residents can charge their phones or warm up if necessary -

says her manager. and the american embassy emphasizes that the main defense for ukraine against russian attacks is the provided air defense systems. most importantly, we provide ukraine with the air defenses it needs for self-defense, along with ours. protection by air defense systems and support by generators in case of outages are the means that can reduce the challenges for the city of odessa due to regular russian shelling in the winter time. anna kostyuchenko, pavel sukhodolskyi for voice of america from odesa and kyiv. we are moving on to news from the west coast of the united states. the largest exhibition of ukrainian creators imur took place in los angeles. more than 180 talented ukrainians from the fields

of design, ceramics and technology demonstrated the possibilities of the creative industry of ukraine. handmade beauties, exclusive items of ukrainian designers and cultural relics are carefully collected by craftsmen from different parts of the country. khrystyna shevchenko saw all this and will show us. the imur world exhibition is open to the public in los angeles' calvary city arts district 4,400 items from the most outstanding ukrainian artists are presented. here, for example , are world-famous hats by ukrainian designer ruslan baginsky or corsets and dresses by fashion designer ivan frelov, who specially came to the exhibition from kyiv. i am very pleased that we were invited and that we are taking part, because it is really very important. now to popularize ukrainian, to show what is behind ukraine, what is behind it is a powerful culture, you will feel what frolov is saying, classic cult images are presented here

brand, for example, dresses with cutouts in the shape of a heart, or this image used by the singer dua lipa, as well as the famous corsets in which beyoncé and other stars of the world show business performed. there are still some beautiful products here, well, any of ours, actually. it is absolutely special, it is created in kyiv, in ukraine, there is a lot of very manual work here, a lot of energy, ukrainian and sexy, each product has a heart like a check, and we sincerely believe that our products are special, have a special energy, and that they alive as people also have hearts, also present here traditional ceramics, textiles and carpets woven by the technique of the 16th century, in contrast to outdated techniques, innovative design solutions from furniture and solo jewelry from

laboratory-grown largest diameters in the world. this is a material that is used , including on space stations, the quality of screws, yes, so it is very strong, you can wear it all your life, and we used them with grown diamonds, we think that it looks very cool, and it is the work of ukrainian fashion photo that sasha samsonova lives in los angeles. she decided not to present photographs, but her first works from glyna. and when the war started, i didn't understand why i was taking pictures and who needed it, and i wanted to somehow change my days and my reality, and the way i am here in the alley, and i understand my privilege that i am here, with the question arose, what to do, how

to fill your time. organization of the exhibition took six months, its co-organizer says that the goal was to show that ukraine is not a problem, but a country that offers solutions, and has a lot of talent, we just want people to see how cool a product we can create in technology and fashion and design, and we actually already create it, so we just want to share it with the world that even despite the war, prodaction in ukraine does not stop, people continue about and it only becomes more valuable. the ukrainian films pamphyr and shadows of forgotten ancestors were also shown as part of the exhibition, and panel discussions were held on the issues of cinema, art and state administration during the war. we understood, already after the first year of the war, that it is necessary to build a dialogue between americans and ukrainians, because this, this is our kind of chance, to get to the heart and

explain what is really happening... in ukraine. all ticket proceeds, say the organizers, will be transferred to the nova ukrain charity fund, which will direct them to the educational needs of ukrainians. from los angeles, khrystyna shevchenko, for the voice of america. download the voice of america mobile app. the application allows you to bypass blocking automatically thanks to the built-in vpn service. read news, watch informative programs and videos as well. listen to the podcasts of the voice of america ukrainian service, we will say goodbye to that, read breaking news and analytical materials on the website of the voice of america in ukraine, also watch live broadcasts, full versions of interviews and stories on our youtube channel, and of course, subscribe to our social networks to always be aware of relevant and true news, and of course watch our program briefings at 6 pm daily on youtube and facebook where you are in

you can ask questions to our presenters ostap yarysh and yulia yarmolenko during the live broadcast. thank you for staying with us, good night, good morning, see you soon. we are asking for your help in the search for demyan tyurin, who has gone missing. in mariupol, i'm asking you right away, please share this search video on your social media pages, it's really very important, because you have to understand that the more people know about the missing boy, the more chances there will be to find him, so be please don't stay indifferent demyanchyk was only three years old, he disappeared on march 2, 2022 in mariupol, when hostilities were going on in the city. what happened to

the child, who was she with then? and where he may be now is unknown, so i ask everyone who sees this video to look carefully at the boy's face. he looks 3-4 years old, of medium build, has light blond hair and dark eyes. so, if you know about demyan tyurin, at least don't delay something and immediately report to the hotline of the children's search service at number 1163. calls from all mobile operators in ukraine are free. also write to our website or to the chasbot of the child search service in telegram. i want to emphasize that any, even the smallest information can be important in the search. let's not be indifferent, and let's try together to find the missing damian tyurin. we are also looking for 16-year-old sashka ivanov. the boy was in one of the boarding schools in donetsk, and on february 20, 2022, four days before the start of the full-scale invasion, all the inmates of this boarding school were allegedly taken by the occupation authorities to