First Nobel Prize for Ukraine, explosions in occupied territories: highlights of the day

First Nobel for Ukraine

Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties on behalf of its head Oleksandra Matviichuk received an award at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo. This is the first time in the history of independence that a Nobel Prize was awarded to Ukrainian citizens.

Matviichuk said that she considers this prize as recognition of the efforts of the entire Ukrainian people who bravely opposed attempts to destroy the peaceful development of Europe.

In 2022, the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize were the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties, the Russian human rights organization Memorial and the human rights activist from Belarus Oles Bialiatski.

EU approves €18 billion for Ukraine

The Council of the European Union has agreed on a legislative package that will allow the EU to allocate €18 billion to help Ukraine through 2023. It will be submitted to the European Parliament for consideration next week.

Earlier, Hungary blocked the provision of €18 billion from the EU to Ukraine at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels, trying to push through the adoption of a decision for financial assistance to Budapest.

Explosions in occupied territories

In the evening of December 10, more than 10 explosions occurred in the Russian-occupied Melitopol, Zaporizhzhya Oblast. Mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov said that the building of the Melitopol Christian Church, which the occupiers seized several months ago and turned into a "den for gatherings", was on fire.

At the same time, the occupation "administration" of Melitopol stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a missile attack on a hotel complex in the city. According to preliminary data, two people were killed and two more wounded.

Also, local Telegram channels reported about "pops" in occupied Sevastopol. However, the so-called governor of Sevastopol said that the loud sounds were associated with exercises and firing at training ranges.

The Russian supervisor in Crimea Sergey Aksyonov mentioned the "work of air defense" over Simferopol.

Belarus wants to export grain from Ukraine

Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Yury Ambrazevich in a conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that his country would agree to the transit of Ukrainian grain through its territory for export from the ports of Lithuania without preconditions.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda called Belarus' proposal a "trap" and believes that the country is trying to avoid sanctions.

"Ukrainian grain already goes through Poland and other countries to the Baltic ports. This is a trap. Let's not fall for it," Nausėda said.

Odesa Oblast without electricity

More than 1.5 million people in Odesa Oblast were left without electricity after Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. On the night of December 10, Russian troops used 15 Iranian Shahed attack drones in Odesa Oblast. 10 of them were shot down by the defenders of Ukraine. But those drones that did hit their targets caused critical damage.