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Demolition of a bombed house (in the Kiev region on December 13)
Photo: Andrew Kravchenko/AP
What has happened in the past few hours
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian armed forces inflicted heavy losses on the Russian occupiers in heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine.
In the village of Kadievka in the Luhansk region alone, around 60 Russian soldiers were killed and a hundred others were wounded, the general staff in Kyiv said on Tuesday evening.
Around 150 Russian soldiers were wounded in attacks on a command staff and artillery positions near Melitopol in the south of the country, it said.
The information could not be independently verified.
During the day, heavy fighting and artillery duels were registered at the other focal points of the front.
The course of the front itself remained unchanged.
That says Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked for international help to clear Russian mines in his country.
In a video address to the New Zealand parliament on Wednesday, he said: "No child can really live in peace as long as they can be killed by a hidden Russian mine."
In Ukraine, 174,000 square kilometers of land are "contaminated with mines or unexploded warheads," Zelenskyy said.
Countless mines belonging to the Russian army, which has been waging a war of aggression in Ukraine since February, are also floating in the Black Sea.
Zelenskyy called on New Zealand to lead international mine clearance efforts in his country.
The New Zealand armed forces are considered to be particularly experienced in this area.
The New Zealand government has pledged further humanitarian aid for the equivalent of around two million euros to help people in Ukraine get through the winter better.
The country has already supplied Kiev with arms and is also helping to train Ukrainian soldiers.
After Zelenskyj's speech, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also promised help with mine clearance.
Zelenskyy also announced the dissolution of a Kiev court for corruption.
"This story is over," he said as he signed a law dissolving the district administrative court that had been likened to a criminal organization by Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies.
"But the history of reforms goes on - it goes on, even in times of such a war." One of the prerequisites for Ukraine's hoped-for accession to the European Union (EU) is extensive reforms to meet a large number of standards in the financial services judiciary to food safety.
Moscow says so
During a visit to the recently liberated southern Ukrainian city of Cherson, UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths caused anger among the Russian occupiers on the other side of the Dnipro River.
Moscow's regional head of administration, Vladimir Saldo, accused the UN representative on Tuesday of illegally crossing the border into Russian territory.
"This is outrageous, shameful and indecent," Saldo was quoted as saying by the Russian state agency Tass.
On Tuesday, Griffiths got an idea of the situation of the civilian population in liberated Cherson.
After invading Ukraine, Moscow annexed four areas in southern and eastern Ukraine, including the Cherson Oblast, in violation of international law.
In the autumn, however, Ukrainian troops managed to liberate the city of Cherson and push back the Russian occupiers across the Dnipro River.
humanitarian situation
President Zelenskyy thanked the international community for the billions in emergency winter aid.
"Every day we draw new strength for Ukraine to get through this winter, and I thank everyone who is committed to this and helping our state," Zelenskyj said in his daily video address in the evening.
Representatives from around 70 countries came together in Paris to help Ukraine, which had been badly hit by the Russian war of aggression.
Aid of one billion euros should primarily benefit the repair of the severely damaged electricity and heat supply, as well as the water supply, transport and health care and the food sector.
The Russian military recently targeted Ukraine's entire energy infrastructure in order to put pressure on the population in winter.
Selenskyj himself was connected to the conference.
He mentioned that his country urgently needs around 50 million energy-efficient lightbulbs.
This would help relieve the damaged power grid.
The EU has already promised 30 million light bulbs.
At a separate meeting in Paris after the conference, the course was set for French business to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Around 700 French companies showed interest in these talks.
"Ukrainian government officials offered French entrepreneurs opportunities to invest in Ukraine even now, while the war is still ongoing and after our victory," Zelenskyy said.
»We also talked about what we can do to strengthen our state on a European level.«
International Reactions
According to a report, the US government is planning to deliver the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine.
The project still has to be approved by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed government sources.
The plans could be made official later this week.
The Patriot system (»Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target«) is used to combat aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
The American-made Patriot missile defense system is used by several NATO countries.
According to CNN, it was unclear how many Patriot batteries would be delivered to Ukraine.
Safety experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are to be permanently stationed in all four Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal agreed on this in Paris.
Currently, only the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has an IAEA team constantly monitoring the situation and providing independent reports on Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which has repeatedly come under fire.
Indirectly, the presence of the IAEA is also intended to prevent serious attacks that could cause a nuclear accident.
Now the three remaining nuclear power plants in the Ukraine are also to be permanently monitored by the IAEA.
The facilities are under Ukrainian control.
"In view of the unprecedented war-related problems in the Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the middle of winter," the presence of the international experts is very important, said Grossi.
The head of the Vienna-based IAEA also negotiated again with Schmyhal on Tuesday about a security zone and ceasefire around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
“Even though we are not there yet and there is still work ahead of us, I am increasingly optimistic that such an immensely important zone will be agreed and implemented in the near future,” said Grossi.
To date, around 185,000 refugees from Ukraine have started an integration course in Germany.
This is reported by the editorial network Germany (RND) with reference to data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf).
"More than 185,000 Ukrainian nationals have already started an integration course," a spokesman told RND, referring to the latest data from late November.
According to the authorities, more than a third of the more than one million refugees from Ukraine are minors.
"For them, schooling is also compulsory in Germany, so the integration course is only aimed at adults," added the spokesman.
According to Bamf, many refugees want to return to Ukraine quickly: the people have only just escaped from the war and are hoping to return as soon as possible, they said.
It is anything but a matter of course »that such a large number of people want to learn the German language so quickly of their own accord«.
According to the Bamf, integration courses consist of a total of 700 hours.
Language acquisition accounts for 600 hours, the other 100 hours are about values, the legal system or the social system.
What is happening today
The European Parliament awards the renowned Sakharov Prize to the Ukrainian people in Strasbourg.
According to Parliament, President Selenskyj is to be connected to the ceremonial session via video.
Three Ukrainians who are committed to civil society will receive the award.
jok/dpa/Reuters