Weekly Update #93
December 11

Covers those granted refugee status, temporary asylum status, temporary protection, or statuses through similar national protection schemes, as well as those recorded in the country under other forms of stay

Refugees from Ukraine recorded beyond Europe

403,600

Last updated November 28 2023

Refugees from Ukraine recorded globally

6,308,600

Last updated December 5 2023

Beneficiaries of temporary protection in the EU at the end of October 2023

4,238,010

Source: UNHCR collation of statistics made available by the authorities

STATUS OF THE CONFLICT

(as of 10 December 2023)

Russian forces conducted a series of missile and drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of December 7 to 8. The Ukrainian Air Force reported on December 8 that Russian forces launched seven Shahed-131/136 drones and six S-300 missiles on the night of December 7 to 8 and 19 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles against Kyiv Oblast and infrastructure facilities in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the morning of December 8.

The major wave of strikes launched by the Russian air force towards Kyiv and central Ukraine on the night of 7 December was likely the start of a more coordinated campaign to try to degrade Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD). Last October, Russia began relentless waves of attacks on critical infrastructure that lasted for months and left millions of people without heating, electricity or water for parts of the winter.

Russian occupation officials continue efforts to artificially alter the demographic composition of occupied Ukraine. The Ukrainian Helsinki Union on Human Rights – a union composed of 26 human rights-focused nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) – reported on December 6 that Russian authorities have resettled up to 800,000 Russian citizens in occupied Crimea and forced around 100,000 Ukrainian citizens to leave Crimea since 2014. The Union reported that Russian authorities relied on policies such as preferential mortgage lending, relocation of Russian officials and their families, expulsion of Ukrainian citizens to mainland Ukraine, and ”encouragement” of Ukrainian citizens to move to Russia to free up residences in Crimea and encourage Russian citizens to resettle. The Union reported that Russian authorities are currently struggling to encourage Russians to resettle in occupied Crimea due to the high intensity of hostilities near Crimea, however.

Ukraine’s partners continued to announce military and financial aid packages to Ukraine recently. Germany announced on December 7 that it delivered aid to Ukraine, including 1,750 155mm artillery shells, 10 reconnaissance drones, 70 grenade launchers, and 100,000 first aid kits.[35] Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also pledged $4.5 billion to Ukraine, including $1 billion in humanitarian aid to support Ukraine’s recovery efforts and $3.5 billion to fund credit guarantees for World Bank loans to Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his presidential bid for 2024 on December 8 in an obviously staged effort to seem that he was running at the request of Russian servicemen. Putin announced that he would run for president in the 2024 elections in conversation with Russian military personnel after the presentation of Gold Star medals in the Grand Kremlin Palace on December 8.

Avdiivka, the eastern Ukrainian city which has seen some of the most intense fighting of the war, is on the verge of “imminent collapse” to Russian forces, according to a report. A dispatch in The Times by its former Kyiv correspondent said that Ukrainian troops defending the frontline area are “starved of ammunition” and hamstrung in their attempts to repel the advancing enemy soldiers.

Russian forces have likely committed to offensive operations in multiple sectors of the front during a period of the most challenging weather of the fall-winter season in an effort to seize and retain the initiative prior to the Russian presidential elections in March 2024. Russian forces are currently pursuing offensive efforts along much of the frontline in Ukraine, particularly along the Kharkiv-Luhansk Oblast border, near Bakhmut, and towards Avdiivka

Sources: ISW (December 8)

ISW (December 9)

The Guardian

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Up to 800,000 Russians have reportedly moved to Crimea since occupation in 2014

Up to 800,000 Russians have moved to occupied Crimea since its illegal annexation in 2014, and around 100,000 Ukrainians have left, in what amounts to a larger Russian project of remaking the peninsula's demography, said Vladyslav Miroshnychenko, an analyst for the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU) on Dec. 6.

The figure matches previous estimates made by other Ukrainian officials. Tamila Tasheva, President Volodymyr Zelensky's permanent representative for Crimea, said in July 2023 that between 500,000-800,000 Russians had illegally relocated to the peninsula since 2014.

Following the illegal annexation in 2014, Russia implemented policies designed to increase the share of Russians in Crimea, while simultaneously forcing or otherwise pressuring Ukrainians to leave.

Miroshnychenko wrote that the relocation of 800,000 Russians and the loss of 100,000 Ukrainians was not just an organic process, but rather the result of a deliberate policy by the Russian government that he argues could be considered a violation of international humanitarian law.

These policies included "preferential mortgage lending (to Russians), relocation of the Russian military, law enforcement officers, government, medical and educational workers, judges and their families, the expulsion of Ukrainians to the mainland of Ukraine, and encouraging the movement of Ukrainians to Russian territory."

Miroshnychenko noted that Russia has sought to implement a similar policy in parts of Ukraine that Russia has illegally occupied since the full-scale invasion in 2022, albeit with lesser success due to the continuing war.

This is particularly apparent in Mariupol, which was heavily bombed and shelled during Russia's almost three-month siege of the city immediately following the invasion in 2022. The National Resistance Center reported in August 2023 that Moscow had prepared a "development plan" for the city that entailed the relocation of around 300,000 Russians to Mariupol by 2035.

The city previously had a population of more than 450,000 before the invasion, but Ukrainian authorities estimated that only 100,000 remained after Russian forces captured the city.

Source: Kyiv Independent

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Experts predict Ukraine's clearest path to defeating Russia

The attritional nature of the ongoing conflict and the relative stalemate that has created have fuelled growing suggestions that the best course of action for Ukraine is to push for a negotiated peace deal with Russia.

Moscow, however, has given no indication it is willing to enter such negotiations, with commentators including Cold War historian Sergey Radchenko saying Vladimir Putin has "zero incentive" to engage in talks.

In a piece for Foreign Policy magazine, the Hudson Institute's Luke Coffey and Peter Rough make a similar point - but go further, in putting forward what they state is Ukraine and the West's best strategy for defeating Russia.

"The truth is that there is no easy way out," they write, saying "the only way to force Vladimir Putin from his objective is to give Ukraine the means to beat him on the battlefield".

The pair argue that Moscow is "uninterested in any genuine cessation of hostilities" and that any ceasefire "would only serve one purpose: to give his forces a respite before resuming hostilities".

"It is also unrealistic to think Putin would be content with control over the five regions of Ukraine that he has already annexed," they add.

"Of course, the West could attempt to pressure Ukraine into ceding large territories and millions of Ukrainians to Russia in hopes of appeasing Putin, even though Kyiv would fiercely and justifiably resist such a move.

"It would destroy the relationship with Kyiv, tank morale throughout Ukraine, and raise doubts about US commitments around the world. It would embolden Putin to pocket his gains and press onward."

They conclude that “the shortest and most direct path to victory for Ukraine runs through Crimea”.

"Ukraine must be armed, trained, and equipped with the campaign for the peninsula in mind," they write.

"Just as Russia's war on Ukraine began with the invasion of Crimea in 2014, so too will it only end when Ukraine eventually regains control there. For Washington, a clear eye on the campaign for Crimea is an antidote to doom and gloom. By adjusting its strategy, the West can help Ukraine make crucial progress, weaken Russia in the Black Sea, and chart a path to ending this long and bloody war."

Source: Sky News

THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

Frontline communities rely on humanitarian assistance as the proximity to the war prevents them from accessing food.

Physical damage to the community infrastructure leads to unavailability of food in the market. The loss of livelihoods is another barrier even when the food is available. Land strewn with mines and unexploded ordnances prevent people from growing their own food. As temperatures plummet below freezing, the second winter since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has officially arrived. Severe weather conditions have caused power outages across 386 settlements in ten Ukrainian regions on 26 November, including Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kirovohrad oblasts. Large parts of Ukraine are under a severe weather warning, with wind gusts of up to 30 meters per second, with continued forecast of heavy snowfall. The harsh weather conditions accompanied the largest drone attack on Kyiv since the full-scale war on the same weekend; the aerial assault of 75 Shahed drones began early 25 November and continued past sunrise.

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UNHCR Regional Director for Europe concerned about consequences of possible underfunding for those impacted by ongoing war in Ukraine next year

During a two-week mission to the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Poland, UNHCR Regional Director for Europe witnessed the conditions across the region and appealed for urgent renewed support for the coming year, to enable UNHCR to respond to the needs of those impacted by the ongoing full-scale war in Ukraine.

UNHCR’s Regional Director for Europe, Philippe Leclerc, spent the past two weeks witnessing the situation of Ukrainian refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and war affected communities in Ukraine and in the neighbouring Republic of Moldova and Poland. Some 6.3 million refugees from Ukraine remain uprooted from their homes. UNHCR has supported almost 950,000 people in Ukraine and neighboring countries, while 3.7 million people remain internally displaced in Ukraine.

Le Clerc cite the continuing significant challenges facing refugees in Ukraine and in host countries.

In Moldova, the country hosting the highest number of refugees from Ukraine per capita, Leclerc met with the Moldovan authorities and expressed his gratitude for the continued solidarity and generosity shown to refugees from Ukraine, despite significant national challenges. He also met with refugee children and youth receiving support through UNHCR and partners, visited two of the Community Centres that promote inclusion and diversity in the country, and witnessed the impact of cash assistance on improving the daily lives of refugees and locals alike.

From Moldova, Leclerc travelled to Ukraine where he met with Ukrainian authorities and visited Odesa, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Kyiv regions which have been deeply impacted by the full-scale war, continuous shelling and destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure. In 2023 so far, UNHCR in Ukraine and partners have reached more than 2.4 million people with protection services like free legal aid and psychosocial support, cash and in-kind assistance, emergency shelter materials and house and collective centre repairs.

Leclerc concluded his visit to the region in Poland, where he met with UNHCR partners, regional and local authorities in the city of Lublin, and refugees at a shelter run by a local foundation. He also visited a job fair in Lublin supported by UNHCR and partners. This is part of major ongoing efforts to foster the inclusion of refugees in the labour market, providing them with the opportunity to meet with employers in Poland directly. To date, some 42 per cent of refugees from Ukraine across neighbouring countries have managed to secure employment.

However, the vast majority have continued to express the desire to return once conditions are safe to do so, among them many vulnerable people. Irina, a 55-year-old refugee from Ukraine currently hosted in Poland, emphasized that "while we appreciate very much the support provided to us…we are keen to return and reunite with our families as soon as the war will be over. We appreciate the hospitality of Poland a lot, but home is home."

Le Clerc noted that as the end of 2023 approaches, UNHCR in Ukraine is just two-thirds funded, and some 74 per cent funded in the neighbouring countries. UNHCR’s financial requirements for the Ukraine Situation in 2024 amount to USD 993 million, including Ukraine with a budget of USD 599 million.

“I’m deeply concerned that if we don’t see renewed support from the international community for the Ukraine situation, we may be forced to cut essential activities. Almost two years into the devastating full-scale war in Ukraine, humanitarian needs remain high. We cannot forget those forced to flee Ukraine, or those in Ukraine who need our support” added Leclerc.

Source: UNHCR

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WFP accelerates social assistance program

In November so far, WFP disbursed almost USD 4.2 million through various cash-based assistance modalities to over 67,000 people in need.

The complementary social benefits cash programme, introduced in August, serves war-affected retirees and persons with disabilities receiving less than the minimum sustainable Government pension.

The market-based transitional support programme launched in October, assists the beneficiaries shift from food to market-based support (1,500 UAH equivalent to USD 40 per month per person), in areas where previously destroyed food shops have begun to recover. Helping people regain their autonomy during the recovery, in November so far, almost 40,000 people have been assisted in Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia town and surrounding areas.

The multi-purpose cash support programme has resumed in November, following the increase in transfer value in October from 2,220 UAH (USD 60) to 3,600 (USD 97). This programme supports people who suffered a sudden shock such as a sudden loss of income, damaged homes, sudden displacement, or the war-related death of a family breadwinner, in the 11 most conflict-affected oblasts in Ukraine.

For the school feeding programme, WFP signed agreements with the Heads of Oblast administrations on 16 November, in a formal ceremony attended by the Deputy Minister of Education. The programme will cover 30 percent of the financial needs to serve daily hot meals to more than 60,000 children in over 420 schools in 11 oblasts, for the 2023-2024 academic year, started in September. The Hromada-level agreements are currently being finalized to complete the agreement process.

So far, WFP reached over 1,146,000 people in November through a combination of bread, rapid response rations, 30-day rations, and institutional feeding. In-kind assistance is designed to serve people living in hard-to-reach areas, where a local market is deemed not functional, due to ongoing hostilities, damaged infrastructure, mine contamination, or limited power supply.

So far, WFP’s total monetary investment into Ukraine’s economy is estimated at USD 1 billion, with about USD 12 million invested during the last month. Much of this investment is attributed to cash assistance, strengthening individual purchasing power, and allowing beneficiaries to support the domestic market.

Source: WFP

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UNICEF ramps up efforts with the Government of Ukraine and local authorities to support children and families during winter

UNICEF is ramping up support for vulnerable children and families in Ukraine who are facing additional hardships this winter season. Renewed attacks on critical infrastructure have disrupted basic services like electricity, heating and water. The impact of these disruptions is particularly acute for vulnerable children and their families, who are also experiencing prolonged economic hardship because of the war. These needs are seen most directly in war-affected areas of Ukraine’s east and south.

Following a recent approval by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, UNICEF and the Government of Ukraine have established a new partnership for the delivery of humanitarian cash assistance. This cash support programme will target the most vulnerable families in Ukraine, including those with three or more children, children with disabilities, as well as single parents, primarily in areas hardest hit by the war in eight frontline districts in the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv regions.

“The new cash assistance initiative, launched in partnership with Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy, and our work with authorities to keep critical social infrastructure operational will help millions of children and their families in Ukraine get through this winter,” said Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative to Ukraine.

This new partnership will help ensure that more vulnerable families in Ukraine can receive life-saving humanitarian support. For the first time, UNICEF cash support will directly target families identified by the Ministry of Social Policy as “low income”. This expands the reach of UNICEF’s ongoing humanitarian cash assistance programme for winter, which also aims to help vulnerable children and families meet their urgent and unique needs.

Moreover, UNICEF is continuing its work with central and regional authorities to ensure the ongoing operation of critical water supply, heating, health, and education facilities by providing equipment like generators.

UNICEF is also providing winter clothing sets for children along with blankets for their families. To date, UNICEF has distributed over 20,800 winter clothing kits for children in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Lviv, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.

Source: UNICEF

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EU agrees plan to enable member states to end all gas imports from Russia

EU countries may soon be able to halt their last remaining Russian gas imports under plans to ban Russian energy companies from their pipelines and terminals.

The European Council and parliament have agreed new rules that could empower the EU’s member states to crack down on companies from Russia and Belarus that have continued to import Russian gas into Europe since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine by buying import capacity at key EU import terminals and pipelines.

The provisional agreement is expected to be endorsed and adopted by both institutions, which will mark the last stage in the legislative process before the plans are put to a vote by MEPs sometime next year.

The European Council said the proposals aim to protect the “essential security interests of the member states of the EU, while taking account of security of supply and diversification objectives”.

If formally approved, the proposed legislation would make it possible for the owners of EU gas import infrastructure to sever their ties with the companies still importing Russian gas without facing steep financial penalties for breaking their contracts.

The new rules would also help pave the way for the EU to reduce its last remaining gas imports from Russia, which had been Europe’s biggest supplier of gas for decades before the war in Ukraine began in February last year.

After the conflict broke out, many EU countries began introducing measures to wean themselves off Russian gas, and Moscow started throttling supplies through its pipelines, cutting the flow through its Nord Stream 1 pipe indefinitely.

The EU still relies on Russia for about 10% of its gas, most of which is imported via seaborne tankers as liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, some member states, including Austria and Hungary, rely heavily on Russian supplies.

Experts say Europe’s gas supply crisis has now begun to stabilise after the upheaval that followed the closure of the Russian pipelines. The EU has entered the winter with record high gas storage levels, and can expect new sources of LNG in the global market in the next two years.

Source: The Gaurdian

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Ukraine’s human rights envoy calls for a faster way to bring back children deported by Russia

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman voiced hope Friday that a coalition of countries formed to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia will be able to come up with a faster mechanism to repatriate them. Over 19,000 children are still believed to be in Russia or in occupied regions of Ukraine.

Dmytro Lubinets spoke to reporters following the first meeting of the National Coalition of Countries for the Return of Ukrainian Children, which was formed based on a recommendation by Canada, in Kyiv. He said Russia continues to deport Ukrainian children to the territories it controls, citing information his office has received. This effort earlier this year prompted the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his envoy for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.

Lubinets acknowledged that Russia has been more willing to return children after the warrants. But challenges remain vast. So far, Russia only returns children whose location and identities have been verified by Ukrainian officials, a difficult task especially for Ukrainians orphans.

He also raised the alarm that children were now being deported via Belarus, saying that his office was “finding more and more facts” of that, and expressed concern that young Ukrainian boys in Russia were being primed for the Russian military, with data about them being collected by military enlistment offices for future conscription into the army.

Lubinets said the first meeting of the coalition had “highly positive results,” but urged it to “find concrete mechanisms to return Ukrainian children.”

This means finding a mechanism to identify Ukrainian children held by Russia, the process of return, and financial support and assistance when they are back on Ukrainian soil, he said.

Source: AP News

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Norway donates NOK 250 million to food security in Ukraine through the Nansen programme

At the food security summit in Ukraine, Norway announced NOK 200 million to the World Food Programme, including the important humanitarian food programme "Grain from Ukraine". Additional NOK 50 million will be donated to the World Bank's Ukraine Fund administered by the World Food Programme.

'Norway will continue to support the people of Ukraine. At the same time, we have not lost sight of other crises globally. The Nansen programme is one example of how we manage to combine those efforts,' said Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.

An additional NOK 150 million will be donated to the World Food Programme in response to their emergency appeal for Ukraine. In addition to providing food aid near the front lines, the funding will be used for demining of agricultural land, allowing farmers to go back to food production as quickly as possible.

NOK 50 million will be allocated to the World Bank's Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF). The Bank's agricultural programme, ARISE (Ukraine Agriculture Recovery Inclusive Support Emergency), is providing access to affordable financing to farmers in Ukraine.

Source: The Government of Norway

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Dutch government pledges nearly $2.7 billion for Ukraine in 2024 as war drags into another winter

The Netherlands announced Tuesday it would support Ukraine in 2024 with a 2.5 billion euros (nearly $2.7 billion) allocation, as the 21-month war drags into another winter and concerns grow that Kyiv’s war effort may falter without continued Western support.

Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot announced the allocation during a visit to Ukraine. “Be assured of our support, ”she said at a press conference after a meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. “Your security is our security.”

Bruins Slot said her country opened a training center for F-16s in Romania on Nov. 13 and is working with the U.S., Denmark and other countries to see that Ukraine can deploy the fighter jets as soon as possible.

She added that the meeting also touched on Ukraine’s aspiration to become a member of the European Union: “Your future is with us,” she said.

Source: Defense News

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International organization focuses on health systems support – Project HOPE

Founded in 1958, Project HOPE is a leading global health and humanitarian organization operating in more than 25 countries around the world. We work side-by-side with local health systems to save lives and improve health.

In Ukraine, Project HOPE’s humanitarian assistance focuses on supporting local primary and secondary health facilities with essential medicine, medical supplies, equipment, and generators, as well as the reconstruction of critical health care facilities.

Project HOPE’s team in Ukraine is also addressing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS); protection; and water, sanitation,and hygiene (WASH) needs. Project HOPE’s team in Ukraine is also addressing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS); protection; and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs.

Project HOPE has provided humanitarian assistance to 406 facilities, including 314 health facilities, 11 centers for internally displaced people (IDPs), 49 local administrations, and 19 non-governmental organizations in 23 oblasts. It has continued delivering medicines, medical supplies and essential equipment, reaching a total of 283 health facilities, including four IDP centers, in 23 oblasts.

A notable project is the renovation of 12 health and social service facilities in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson oblasts. Nine projects have been completed, one is under construction, and one is in the pre-construction stage. All ongoing projects will be completed by the end of December 2023.

Patients receiving care at Zahaltsi Outpatient Clinic in Kyiv Oblast, which was rebuilt and rehabilitated by Project HOPE. Photo by Nikita Hlazyrin for Project HOPE, 2023.

Sources: HOPE

UPDATES ON INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT TO UKRAINE

British foreign secretary says there will be no reduction in UK support for Ukraine in 2024 British foreign secretary David Cameron has told the House of Lords that there will be no reduction in UK military support for Ukraine next year.

Cameron said the UK has so far provided humanitarian and economic support worth more than £4.7bn to Ukraine and that it will continue to provide support. Cameron said he did not have the exact figures for next year’s spending to hand, but he said support will continue at the scale it has been before, or beyond that.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron urges US Congress to pass Ukraine aid package. Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron has urged US lawmakers to “lift the morale” of Ukraine by passing an aid package for Kyiv that has become entangled in Republican quarrelling. Cameron, a former British prime minister, told CNN during a trip to Washington, DC, on Thursday that the US is “the lynchpin” of the Western coalition backing Ukraine’s fight against Russia.

His intervention comes a day after Republicans in the Senate blocked foreign aid from advancing in protest over the package’s lack of changes to border and immigration policy. Britain has taken a leading role in providing support and assistance to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The UK has invested £9.3 billion ($11.7 billion) in military, humanitarian and economic support for Ukraine since the start of the war, it said this week. But tensions among Republicans in Washington over continued military assistance threaten to create a major crack in Ukraine’s Western alliance.

The Ukrainian parliament has approved four bills necessary to start European Union accession talks, including one on national minorities’ rights, a critical demand from Hungary which opposes Ukraine’s EU bid. Parliament’s website confirmed that president Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed all the bills into law. “

“We expect that Ukraine’s efforts will be duly appreciated by leaders of the European Union and the corresponding European promises to Ukraine will be fulfilled,” Zelenskiy said. Ukraine, he said, had “done everything expected of us” in taking on EU recommendations.

European Union leaders are conscious of how “existential” financial aid is to Ukraine and will honour their commitments, a senior official said, less than a week before a summit where billions in aid for Kyiv hang in the balance. Ahead of the year’s final summit of EU leaders in Brussels on the 14 and 15 December, Hungary has threatened to veto a proposal for the bloc to grant €50bn in budget aid to Kyiv through 2027.

The EU’s executive is due to approve next week a legal proposal on using proceeds from Russian assets frozen under sanctions, but doubts in France, Germany and Belgium mean Ukraine would not get the money anytime soon, officials and diplomatic sources said. The draft law is expected on 12 December, two days before the year’s final summit of the EU’s 27 national leaders at which billions of much-needed budgetary and military aid for Kyiv are at stake, as well as advancing Ukraine’s membership bid.

Zelenskiy has underscored Kyiv’s need for more air defences and the importance of EU unity in the run-up to a key summit next week. The Ukrainian leader said that during a call with Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, the leaders “discussed the importance of maintaining EU political and financial support for Ukraine, as well as EU unity in light of the expected [European Council] summit decisions to open accession negotiations and provide €50bn in support.”

Bulgarian parliament again approves additional military aid to Ukraine. Bulgaria’s parliament on Friday approved the provision of additional military aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia. Direct arms supplies were rejected by previous interim governments, appointed by President Rumen Radev. He is sympathetic to Russia and recently said that Ukraine was to be blamed for the war and that supplying arms to Ukraine only prolongs the conflict. A majority of 147 lawmakers in the 240-seat chamber voted in favor of supplying Ukraine with portable anti-aircraft missile systems and surface-to-air missiles of various types intended to bolster Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, the state-run BTA news agency reported.

Germany says German budget crisis will not affect Ukraine. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Germany's budget crisis would not diminish support for Ukraine.

"At a time when crises are collapsing on top of each other, we, as strong democracies, must show that we have maximum capacity to act even in times of crisis," the Green politician said during a visit to the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana.

One thing is clear, Baerbock said: "Germany will remain a reliable international partner because security in the world, especially with regard to Ukraine, also contributes to our own security."

In view of the "difficult financial times," she said that she and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had "clearly emphasized that this will not diminish our support for Ukraine, on the contrary."

Baerbock recalled that Germany had doubled its support for Ukraine's self-defense from €4 billion ($4.3 billion) to €8 billion for next year "just before what is likely to be another brutal winter for the Ukrainians."

Sources: AP News

AP News

The Guardian

CNN

HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE

Angelus - December 10, 2023 (Sunday)

And we continue to pray for the populations who are suffering because of war. We are heading toward Christmas: Are we able, with God’s help, to take concrete steps of peace? It is not easy; we know that. Certain conflicts have historically deep roots. But we also have the testimony of men and women who have worked wisely and patiently for peaceful coexistence. Let their example be followed! Let every effort be put toward addressing and removing the causes of conflict, while at the same time – speaking of human rights – protecting civilians, hospitals, places of worship, freeing hostages and guaranteeing human rights. Let us not forget battered Ukraine, Palestine, Israel.

E continuiamo a pregare per le popolazioni che soffrono a causa della guerra. Andiamo verso il Natale: saremo capaci, con l’aiuto di Dio, di fare passi concreti di pace? Non è facile, lo sappiamo. Certi conflitti hanno radici storiche profonde. Ma abbiamo anche la testimonianza di uomini e donne che hanno lavorato con saggezza e pazienza per la convivenza pacifica. Si segua il loro esempio! Si metta ogni impegno per affrontare e rimuovere le cause dei conflitti. E intanto – a proposito di diritti umani – si proteggano i civili, gli ospedali, i luoghi di culto, siano liberati gli ostaggi e garantiti gli aiuti umanitari. Non dimentichiamo la martoriata Ucraina, la Palestina, Israele.

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Angelus - December 8, 2023 (Solemnity of Immaculate Conception)

This afternoon, I will go first to Saint Mary Major and then to Piazza di Spagna to pray to Our Lady. I ask everyone, especially the faithful of Rome, to unite themselves spiritually to me in this act of entrustment to our Mother, praying particularly for peace, peace in Ukraine, peace in Palestine and Israel, and in every land wounded by war. Let us ask for peace, that hearts might be at peace, that there be peace!

Oggi pomeriggio mi recherò prima a Santa Maria Maggiore e poi in Piazza di Spagna a pregare la Madonna. Chiedo a tutti, specialmente ai fedeli di Roma, di unirsi spiritualmente a me in questi gesti di affidamento alla nostra Madre, pregando in particolare per la pace, la pace in Ucraina, la pace in Palestina e Israele, e in tutte le terre ferite dalle guerre. Chiediamo pace, che i cuori si pacifichino, che ci sia la pace!

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General Audience - December 6, 2023

E non dimentichiamo di pregare per quanti soffrono il dramma della guerra, in particolare le popolazioni dell’Ucraina, di Israele e di Palestina. La guerra sempre è una sconfitta. Nessuno guadagna, tutti perdono. Soltanto guadagnano i fabbricanti delle armi.

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