AFP reports that the United Nations has requested record funding for aid in 2019. The ongoing war in Ukraine and other conflicts, climate emergencies, and the still-simmering pandemic have pushed more people into disaster and some toward hunger.
According to the United Nations’ annual Global Humanitarian Overview, an estimated 339 million people across the globe will require emergency assistance in the coming year. This is an astounding increase of 65 million people from the previous year’s forecast.
As UN assistance chief Martin Griffiths told reporters in Geneva, “next year is likely to be the biggest humanitarian program” in history. This is both an incredible and depressing amount.
According to him, if all the people in need of immediate assistance were concentrated into a single country, it would be the third largest country on Earth, behind China and India.
A new projection suggests that in 2023, one in every 23 people will require assistance, up from one in every 95 in 2015.
Griffiths characterised the humanitarian needs as “shockingly high” due to the continuation of 2022’s extreme events into 2023.
According to him, “lethal droughts and floods are inflicting havoc in communities from Pakistan to the Horn of Africa,” and he said that the conflict in Ukraine “has transformed a section of Europe into a battlefield.”
The purpose of the global humanitarian strategy is to provide $1.7 billion in financial aid to Ukraine’s 6.3 million residents, as well as $5.7 billion to help the thousands of Ukrainians and their host communities in neighboring countries.
The first day of winter found six million people without electricity.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine announced on Wednesday night that about six million people in the majority of Ukraine’s regions do not have access to electrical power as the country woke up to the first official day of winter.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian state emergency service said that nine people had been killed in fires as a result of disregard for safety regulations among those attempting to warm their homes following Russian attacks on power facilities.
A total of 131 fires broke out in Ukraine just yesterday, with 106 occurring in homes.
The emergency services reported nine fatalities and eight injuries.
The United States has awarded Raytheon a $1.2 billion contract for missile systems in Ukraine.
According to the Pentagon, the US Army has awarded Raytheon Technologies Co a $1.2 billion deal for the procurement of six National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems Nasams for the Ukrainian military.
To aid in its defense against Russian missile and drone attacks, the United States has approved the transfer of eight Nasams to Ukraine.
In November, Ukraine received its initial shipment of two Nasams air defense systems.
Others, once constructed, will likely be shipped in subsequent months.
Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Bill LaPlante has noted that the delivery of Nasams is the most recent addition to a wide range of air-defense capabilities being provided to Ukraine.
According to an Army Statement, these six Nasams systems were part of the fifth Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package, which was unveiled on August 24 and was valued at $2.98bn.
With USAI monies, the Biden administration can purchase weapons through fair trade rather than by reducing the United States’ existing stockpile.
Nasams batteries, training, and logistical support for the Ukrainian armed forces are all included in the agreement.
The third USAI package was introduced in July and provided the funding for both Nasams.
Army Chief of Staff Doug Bush told reporters last week that the United States is speeding up its weapons acquisition process in order to catch up on contracts needed to restore U.S. stocks depleted by arms sales to Ukraine.
According to the Pentagon, Ukraine’s new US-supplied Nasams air defense systems have a perfect record of intercepting Russian missiles.
Since the beginning of the Biden Administration, the United States has committed about $19.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.
The Pentagon announced in Washington that Raytheon had been given a $1.2 billion deal to provide Ukraine with six National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (Nasams).
To help counter Russian missile and drone attacks, the United States has approved shipping eight Nasams to Ukraine.
In November, Ukraine received its initial shipment of two Nasams air defense systems. Those that are still being built will arrive in the coming months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday night that about six million people in the majority of Ukraine’s regions do not have access to electrical power as people awake on the first official day of winter.
Here are some significant events in the opposite direction:
On Wednesday, a safety officer at the Ukrainian mission in Madrid opened a letter bomb meant for the ambassador.
Mercedes Gonzalez, an official with the Spanish government, revealed to Telemadrid that the safety officer had suffered minor mishaps.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba “urgently” instructed all Ukrainian embassies abroad to increase security following the incident, according to a ministry official.
To investigate and prosecute Russia’s “act of aggression” against Ukraine, the president of the European Commission has proposed a special tribunal.Ursula von der Leyen needs to aid Ukraine with the money that was frozen in Russia because of western sanctions.
As western allies worked to buttress Ukraine and its neighbours against Moscow, Russian forces tried to advance in eastern Ukraine and trained tank, mortar, and artillery fire on Kherson in the south, the Ukrainian army said.
Ukraine’s international minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that his country is interested in collaborating with German authorities to acquire US-made Patriot missile defense systems to protect its civilian infrastructure from Russia’s massive onslaught.
According to Reuters, on Tuesday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged Nato against providing Ukraine with Patriot systems.
The British government has recently imposed a new round of sanctions against 22 Russians, including those who the Foreign Office claims were involved in recruiting criminals to fight in Ukraine.
The international secretary, James Cleverly, announced on Wednesday that his department would target a new set of officers, including Denis Manturov, the deputy prime minister who is responsible for troop equipment supplies.
Ambassador-designate Lynne Tracy, nominated by Vice President Joe Biden to represent the United States in Russia, promised on Wednesday that she would prioritize the release of American prisoners if she is approved for the position.
According to Ukraine’s official emergency agency, nine people have been murdered in fires during the past 24 hours. These deaths occurred because residents disregarded safety regulations while attempting to heat their homes following Russian attacks on power facilities.
A total of 131 fires broke out in Ukraine just yesterday, with 106 occurring in homes. The emergency services reported nine fatalities and eight injuries.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has arrived in Kyiv on a three-day visit to express support for the Ukrainian people and their churches.
Welby will meet with church officials in Ukraine, as well as refugees and people who have been internally displaced.
According to the RIA information agency, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s international intelligence service, met with CIA director William Burns this month and brought up nuclear points and Ukraine during the meeting.
The US embassy’s cost d’affaires in Moscow, Elizabeth Rood, had previously told RIA that Burns “did not negotiate anything and he did not discuss a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.”
According to Russia’s nuclear business Rosenergoatom, Moscow has promoted Yuriy Chernichuk, the plant’s chief engineer, to become the plant’s CEO.
Kiev claims that Russian authorities abducted plant manager Ihor Murashov in October. Therefore the building has been empty since then.
The head of the military administration in the Zaporizhzhia region, Oleksandr Starukh, said on Telegram first thing on Wednesday morning that Russian strikes in the area had struck a fuel distribution level the day before, starting a fire that has since been put out.
No one has been hurt, and there have been no mishaps. According to the regional governor, one person was killed, and another was injured on Wednesday due to Russian bombardment on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.
City resident Yaroslav Yanushevych said on the Telegram messaging app that several homes and medical facilities had been broken into since the city’s liberation this month from months of Russian control.
According to Ukraine, another 500 Russian soldiers have been killed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of combat fatalities since 24 February to almost 88,880.
The essential military staff said that three further tanks and six armoured personnel carriers had been destroyed.
According to the Ukrainian military, in the past day, Ukrainian forces have shot down three Russian reconnaissance drones.
Ukraine’s last remaining military spokesperson, Alexander Tupun, reported numerous air and artillery strikes, including on Kivsharivka in Kharkiv and Sloviansk in Donetsk, in an early morning briefing.
The Russian shelling of a hospital in the northern Ukrainian region of Sumy resulted in the death of a child, according to a presidential adviser.
Deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, claimed on the messaging app Telegram that Russian forces had been firing artillery and mortar bombs into the area for the past 24 hours.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said he doesn’t think Vladimir Putin of Russia will use nuclear weapons.
He said this during a webcast presentation at the New York Times’ DealBook summit. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently told reporters that avoiding military confrontation between nuclear countries was crucial, even if it only involved ordinary weapons, a claim corroborated by the TASS media agency.
The Russian defense minister has said that the country’s nuclear weapons infrastructure, including the facilities needed to house new missile systems, will be addressed in 2023.
In a meeting with the division’s board on Wednesday, Sergei Shoigu announced that it would be a top priority for Russia in the coming year.
The RIA information organization quoted Shoigu saying, “When creating the list of important construction facilities for 2023, special attention will be devoted to construction in the interests of the strategic nuclear forces.”
Odesa, a Ukrainian port city on the Black Sea, has decided to remove and relocate a monument honoring Catherine the Great of Russia since it has been vandalized at least twice with purple paint.
Reuters said that since the invasion of Ukraine, many Ukrainians had rejected their country’s historical links to Moscow, leading to widespread vandalism of the statue honoring the town’s founder that rises over a critical square.
Source: The Guardian