December 13, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Russian-installed administrators in the city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine claimed on Tuesday that "two explosive devices" of 15-20 kilograms of TNT were used to blow up a portion of a bridge used for supplying Russian armed forces.

Yevgeny Balitskyi, the Russian-appointed head of Zaporizhzhia region, said on Telegram “unknown persons blew up two reinforced concrete supports of the road bridge, after which the bridge received a subsidence.”

He stressed that the damage to the bridge “did not affect cargo traffic in anyway” and claimed that the bridge “had no strategic significance.” 

More background: The bridge connects the main part of the city of Melitopol to a suburb Konstantynivka. 

The bridge is part of the M14 highway that runs along Ukraine’s southern coastline and connects Melitopol to Berdyansk to the east and then onto to Mariupol and then into the Russian Federation.

Germany on Tuesday pledged an additional $53.2 million to support Ukraine over the winter period as it faces an onslaught of Russian attacks on its critical infrastructure, leaving millions of civilians without electricity, heating and water. 

Confirming the pledge in a tweet, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to “break Ukrainians with his brutal tactic of plunging them into the cold,” adding: “We won't let that happen.”

Germany will send equipment to help restore Ukraine’s energy grid, including generators and transformers, Baerbock said in a tweet. 

The money was part of a total of more than one billion dollars pledged by 46 countries and 24 international organizations at a conference in Paris on Tuesday that aimed to mobilize immediate support for Ukraine between December and March. 

Switzerland also announced a pledge of more than $100 million to Ukraine, according to a Tuesday press release by the Swiss government.

More than one billion dollars was pledged to support Ukraine during a bleak winter at a conference in Paris Tuesday, France’s foreign minister said.

The money, pledged by 46 countries and 24 international organizations, will be split between restoring Ukraine’s depleted energy network, the food sector, water supply, health and transportation, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna told the conference, adding that $520 million of funding was yet to be allocated. 

The announcement comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for $843 million in aid in a virtual address to delegates at the conference, as millions of Ukrainians face a freezing winter under the shadow of Russia’s war, without access to electricity, water and central heating.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has appointed Sergei Aleinik as new foreign minister, state news agency Belta reported Tuesday.

Prior to this appointment, Aleinik worked in the foreign ministry as first deputy minister.

Belarus’ previous longstanding foreign minister, Vladimir Makei, died suddenly in November at the age of 64.

Lukashenko also appointed Andrei Lukyanovich as commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, Belta said.

Belarus earlier on Tuesday announced snap military drills across the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked world leaders gathered at a conference in Paris for more aid to help his country survive Russian attacks on critical infrastructure this winter.

Meanwhile, a key bridge used to resupply Russian forces occupying the city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine has been targeted.

Here are the latest headlines:

A bridge essential to the resupply of Russian forces occupying the city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine was targeted by strikes overnight, according to both Ukrainian and Russian officials. 

The bridge appears to have buckled or collapsed inwards in a video posted online by Vladimir Rogov, a pro-Russian regional official.

Rogov also posted what appears to be CCTV footage in which an explosion can be heard.

CNN has not been able to verify if the explosion is from the bridge, but the video is part of a set of videos Rogov posted of the incident.

Ivan Fedorov, the exiled Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, said that the route is "one of the strategically important bridges."

Rogov also suggested that the bridge is a vital supply route for "food, medicine and building materials to the liberated territories of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions."

The bridge connects the city of Melitopol to a suburb named Konstantynivka. It is part of the M14 highway, which runs along Ukraine’s southern coastline from Melitopol to Berdiansk and Mariupol to the east before reaching the Russian Federation.

Ukraine needs to appreciate that Moscow has added new territories to the Russian Federation, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s three-step proposal for peace.

"The Ukrainian side needs to take into account the realities that have developed over all this time," Peskov told reporters on a regular conference call.

"And these realities indicate that the Russian Federation has new subjects [the four annexed territories]."

"Without taking these new realities into account, any progress is impossible," he added.

In a video statement to the G7 leaders Monday, Zelensky asked to "preserve this level of solidarity" and support Ukraine next year, outlining three steps for peace.

The final step outlined by Zelensky was a "new diplomacy" that involved a peace solution asking Russia to start withdrawing troops from Ukraine this Christmas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for $843 million in aid to support the country's critical infrastructure this winter. 

In a virtual address at a conference in Paris, Zelensky said Ukraine required critical electrical infrastructure, as well as urgent imports of electricity from European countries "at least until the end of the heating season."

"This will cost about 800 million euros ... but the price is less than the cost of the blackout," he warned. 

Russia has been repeatedly accused of using "winter as a weapon of war" in Ukraine in recent weeks, relentlessly striking critical infrastructure and leaving millions of Ukrainians without access to electricity, water and central heating in freezing temperatures. 

The 46 countries and 24 international organizations which gathered in Paris on Tuesday are expected to commit to providing immediate support to Ukraine, focusing on the winter period.

France will commit an additional $80.7 million of humanitarian aid, according to a statement from President Emmanuel Macron’s office, of which $51.1 million will be dedicated to energy, access to water, food, health and transport infrastructure, as well as demining operations. 

This will include 63 new high-powered electrical generators being provided to Ukraine in the very near future, the statement said. 

So far the conference has seen $421.6 million committed to Ukraine, the statement said, adding that the figure is expected to increase.  

Hundreds of generators are on their way to Ukraine, said President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, adding that "in these times of suffering and darkness, it is so important to bring light to Ukraine."

A total of 800 generators are being distributed across Ukraine, including 40 large generators supplied to ensure uninterrupted power supply to 30 hospitals in the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson, said von der Leyen.

It is vital to keep the Ukrainian power grid functioning despite Russian strikes, said von der Leyen at a Solidarity of the Ukrainian people conference in Paris on Tuesday morning.

The European Union is working on increasing the amount of electricity which can be traded between Ukraine, Moldova and the rest of Europe, she added.

Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska sat alongside von der Leyen and spoke about the challenges her country is facing, including damage to infrastructure.

Zelenska thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for hosting the forum and asked allies to "become more than you have been before."