The humble LED power-saving light bulb could help Ukraine escape blackouts this winter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
Taken for granted by most consumers in rich countries, LEDs could prove a strategic ally for Ukraine as Kyiv seeks to resist Russian bombing of its power grid.
"It maybe doesn't seem very important but 50 million LED lamps will allow us to save one gigawatt of power," Mr Zelenskyy told an international aid conference in Paris attended by around 70 states and international organisations.
Large parts of Ukraine face blackouts and regular load-shedding as the country's power grid buckles under repeated Russian air strikes.
Mr Zelenskyy said the current power shortfall in the country was around 2.5 gigawatts per day, meaning 50 million LED light bulbs would reduce this by 40 per cent.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen immediately announced that the European Union would fund the purchase of 30 million LED light bulbs for 30 million euros ($46.5 million).
They are 88 per cent more efficient than traditional ones, she estimated.
"The savings are crucial to reduce the pressure that we have on the power grid now," Ms von der Leyen said.
"In these times of suffering and darkness, it is so important to bring light to Ukraine," she added.
Europe pledges more aid
In Paris, about 70 countries and institutions pledged payments of just over 1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to help maintain Ukraine's water, food, energy, health and transport, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said.
Mr Zelenskyy estimated that Ukraine needed around 800 million euros ($1.2 billion) in emergency aid in total for its energy sector in the face of Russia's onslaught.
"It's a lot, but the price is less than the cost of blackout," Mr Zelenskyy told the meeting via video link.
Ukraine is desperately seeking spare parts to repair its power lines, as well as transformers, gas turbines and generators to keep the lights on.
As he arrived at the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said there was an agreement on removing heavy weapons from Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and that talks were underway on how to do this.
Mr Macron, who also championed the idea of LED lighting for Ukraine, condemned Russia's "cynical" and "cowardly" attacks on civilian infrastructure.
"These strikes ... which Russia openly admits are designed to break the resistance of the Ukrainian people, are war crimes," he said in an opening speech.
"They violate without any doubt the most basic principles of humanitarian law. These acts are intolerable and will not go unpunished."
Ukraine battles Russian assault in the east
Russia and Ukraine pounded each other's forces in heavy fighting in the eastern region of Donetsk on Tuesday.
Russian forces are battling to take full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, two of four territories the Kremlin claims to have annexed in votes rejected by most countries as illegal.
"They're shelling really hard, there's shelling, especially at night," Valentyna, 70, told Reuters as she fled the Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut, which Moscow seeks to capture, but which is now largely in ruins because of incessant bombardment.
Valentyna, who declined to give her surname, spoke in a van driving to the relative safety of Ukrainian-controlled Pokrovsk.
"The house would shake and every minute, second you expect it could crumble around you and that'd be it. I couldn't even sleep in the last week, so I decided to leave," she said.
Ukraine's health minister told the BBC World Service that hospitals are having to limit the number of patients being treated, as Russian attacks on energy infrastructure affect medical care.
Viktor Liashko said power cuts caused by Russian bombing would mean no heating, water supply or sewage in health facilities.
He said Kyiv is asking for help so hospitals can continue to operate in the event of a blackout.
"Since the beginning of the war, we've suffered as Russia shelled civilians indiscriminately, and attacked hospitals.
"Already more than 1,100 healthcare facilities have been damaged, and 144- completely destroyed," he said.
"The risks are always high — we have to prepare for worst situations, this is what we do. I ask our international partners to support our hospitals with generators."
Russia's sustained shelling
Fierce fighting in the region in recent weeks has left unclear which parts of Donetsk are under Russian and Ukrainian control.
Three civilians were killed in the Donetsk region over the past 24 hours, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on his Telegram channel, while in the southern Kherson region, Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych reported three people were killed and 15 wounded in Russian artillery attacks.
Russian troops shelled the part of the Kherson region under Ukrainian control 57 times, he said.
Russia's sustained shelling of the frontline in Donetsk has destroyed the city of Bakhmut and heavily damaged the city of Avdiivka, which lies in the region's centre, Mr Zelenskyy said last Friday.
On Monday, the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces said Russia was concentrating its efforts to advance and capture both cities.
Moscow denies deliberately attacking civilians, but the war has displaced millions and killed thousands of non-combatants.
Reuters could not independently verify the latest battlefield accounts.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, launched a snap inspection of its troops' combat readiness after an order from President Alexander Lukashenko, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.
It was the latest in a flurry of military actions that have raised fears Russia may mount an attack on Ukraine from Belarusian territory in coming months.
The Group of Seven (G7) nations on Monday promised to "meet Ukraine's urgent requirements" after Mr Zelenskyy appealed for modern tanks, artillery and long-range weapons.
The Ukrainian president also urged G7 leaders at a virtual meeting to support his idea of convening a special Global Peace Summit.
On Tuesday, Russia dismissed a peace proposal from Mr Zelenskyy that would involve a pullout of Russian troops, and demanded Kyiv accept new territorial "realities" which included Russia's addition of four Ukrainian regions as its "new subjects".
"Without taking these new realities into account, no kind of progress is possible," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding there could be "no question" of Russia starting to withdraw troops by the end of the year.
ABC/wires
