Ukraine updates: Roughly €1 billion raised at French event

France is organizing a major international conference on Tuesday to coordinate civilian aid for war-ravaged Ukraine.   

The aim is to alleviate civilian suffering in a country devastated by incessant bombing from Russia. Specifically, the event is to focus on helping Ukraine meet its needs for water, power, food, health and transport during the winter months.

It also aims to put in place a system for the coordination of civilian aid similar to the one Western countries are using to coordinate their military support.

A web-based platform will allow Kyiv to list its civilian aid needs, and allow donors to show what they'll supply in response.

Later on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said that the initiative had raised around €1 billion ($1 billion) in aid aftering seeking a target of some $800 million. She also clarified that the money was "not loans," but gifts to Ukraine.

She added that around half of the aid would go to infrastructure damaged by Russian airstrikes, which have targeted energy facilities in particular.

"We cannot leave them alone faced with winter, faced with their aggressor which is seeking to inflict difficulties on them," she told reporters.

French President Emmanuel Macron has launched several diplomatic efforts regarding the conflict. The conference comes after his recent comments were slammed by many in Ukraine. During an interview at the start of December, he called for Russia to be offered "security guarantees" at the end of the war, prompting sharp criticism.

But Macron spoke to Zelenskyy over the phone on Sunday and seemingly resolved the issue

Here are the other top stories related to the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, December 13:

UK slaps new sanctions on Russia

The UK has announced new sanctions against 12 senior Russian military commanders, including asset freezes and travel bans.

Among those sanctioned is Major General Robert Baranov, who is believed to be in charge of a unit operating cruise missiles.

Intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects is a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Those responsible must be held to account," the UK Foreign Office said.

The sanctions also target four Iranians, including the managing director of a company that manufactures engines for Iranian drones allegedly used by Russia to attack Ukraine.

EU sends 40 generators to Ukraine to power hospitals

The European Union has dispatched 40 large generators to Ukraine to keep hospitals operating in the war-torn nation. This will ensure a power supply to hospitals in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Mykolayiv and Kherson, said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen while attending the international donor conference in Paris.

Furthermore, 100 smaller generators from France, 19 from Slovakia, 23 from Germany, 52 transformers from Lithuania, and four emergency power systems from Poland, have been sent, a commission statement said.

This is in addition to 800 generators sent to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, von der Leyen said.

Zelenskyy requests €800 million in urgent energy aid

President Zelenskyy told delegates attending the Paris conference on Tuesday that Ukraine needed around €800 million ($842 million) in aid for its energy sector.

"Of course it is a very high amount, but the cost is less than the cost of a potential blackout," he said, adding: "I hope that decisions will be made accordingly."

The president pointed out that the war-torn nation needed transformers and equipment to repair damaged high-voltage power lines as well as generators and gas turbines.

"Generators have become as necessary as armored vehicles and bullet-proof jackets."

Germany, meanwhile, has pledged another €50 million in winter aid to Ukraine.

"Money alone does not protect against freezing to death and dying of thirst, and that is why very concrete technical assistance is so important," said German Foreign Minister Baerbock, who is also attending the gathering in Paris.

Belarus starts snap inspection of troops

Russia's ally Belarus is conducting unannounced combat readiness tests, its defense ministry said on Tuesday.

"The activities will be comprehensive in nature" and include moving equipment and setting up bridge crossings, the authorities added, noting that the drills have been ordered by the country's longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko.

While Belarus and Russia are formally part of a "union state",  Lukashenko has not ordered his own troops to take part in the Ukraine war. But some observers fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin might use Belarus territory to open a new front.

Ukraine PM says IAEA will 'secure' nuclear plants

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA agreed to send permanent teams to the country's nuclear plants, including the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia.

"The missions are aimed at securing the plants and recording all attempts to externally influence them, in particular shelling by the Russian aggressor," Shmygal said after meeting IAEA head Rafael Grossi in Paris.

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko also said Tuesday that the world must "rethink nuclear safety."

"Nobody expected that someone could capture a nuclear plant," he said, referring to the Zaporizhzhia plant. "This situation absolutely pushes us to rethink what we should do from the point of view of safety," he added.  

"It's not only a Ukrainian issue of nuclear safety. It means that any missiles which could fly, let's say, up to 2,000 kilometers, could reach any nuclear reactor."

EU strikes deal with Hungary to provide €18 billion aid to Ukraine

The European Union has reached an agreement with Hungary to unblock €18 billion in financial aid to Ukraine, in exchange for the bloc cutting the amount of funding it froze to Budapest.

Hungary had been blocking the aid, and a host of other key EU initiatives, in an attempt to pressure Brussels over its funding row.

Ukraine needs extra gas and weapons, Zelenskyy tells G7

President Zelenskyy urged the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies to provide extra gas and weapons to help Ukraine through the winter.

Millions of people in the country have been enduring freezing temperatures amid harsh winter weather and Russia's targeting of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Vast swathes of the country have been left without power or heating as a result.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs "about two billion cubic meters" of additional gas to get through the winter.

He also urged the G7 to send more arms to Ukraine, including modern tanks, artillery and "more long-range missiles."

More DW content on the war in Ukraine

Moscow is downplaying the consequences of Ukrainian airstrikes on its military airfields. But even if they are only small stings, DW explains how they send important signals about the course of the war going forward. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban maintains close relations with Russia and seems to be turning a blind eye to the presence of Russian agents in Hungary. Is Hungary becoming Russia's spy hub within the EU?

sri/dj (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)