Ukraine has secured the release of a US citizen and 64 Ukrainian soldiers in a prisoner swap with Russia, the Ukrainian presidency’s chief of staff said Wednesday. Earlier in the day, there were multiple explosions near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv but no casualties have been reported. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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7:12pm: Ukraine finds 'propaganda' at Russia-linked Orthodox sites
Ukraine's SBU security service on Wednesday found "propaganda literature" in counter-intelligence searches in churches and monasteries across the country, in its most recent descent on religious sites of the Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
"The Security Service of Ukraine found Russian passports, propaganda literature and laissez-passer" issued by Russian occupation authorities during searches on Wednesday, the agency said in a statement.
The SBU earlier announced "counter-intelligence measures" in more than a dozen religious sites in several Ukrainian regions, including the western Lviv region, Kherson region in the south and Zhytomyr region in the northwest.
"In the publications, representatives of the Russian Federation deny the existence of the Ukrainian people, their language and culture, and question Ukrainian statehood," the SBU said.
6:23pm: Ukraine to increase bonuses for staff at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant who remain loyal
Ukrainian atomic energy agency Energoatom said on Wednesday it would offer higher bonuses to staff at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station who remain loyal to Kyiv. The plant in southern Ukraine, Europe's largest, has been occupied since shortly after Russia's February 24 invasion but is still operated by its Ukrainian staff.
Energoatom said Russian forces were telling Ukrainian workers at the plant that they would not be paid after January 1 if they did not sign contracts with Russia's nuclear energy company, Rosatom.
"Energoatom continues to guarantee the payment of wages and all compensations provided for in the collective agreement to ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant) employees. In addition, from January 1, Energoatom is also increasing from 20% to 50% the bonus for ZNPP personnel who stay loyal to Ukraine."
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree in October transferring the Zaporizhzhia plant from Energoatom to subsidiary of Rosatom in what Kyiv said amounted to theft.
5:58pm: French TV regulator urges Eutelsat to stop broadcasting three Russian channels
French broadcasting authority Arcom on Wednesday urged satellite company Eutelsat to stop carrying three Russian TV channels.
Arcom said it notified Eutelsat it needed to stop broadcasting Rossiya 1, Perviy Kanal and NTV, whose programmes on the war in Ukraine "include repeated incitement to hatred and violence and numerous shortcomings to honesty of information."
France's top administrative court last week ordered the regulator to review its initial decision over the distribution of the three channels in a win for Reporters Without Borders.
3:24pm: Red Cross chief sees possibility of 'all-for-all' prisoner swap deal in Ukraine
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday she saw the possibility of a major prisoner of war swap deal in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
"On an all-for-all exchange, it has happened in the past, it is a known practice, and it can happen in the Russia-Ukraine international conflict as well," Mirjana Spoljaric Egger told reporters.
"So this possibility is certainly one that can be taken by the parties." She declined to give further details.
3:18pm: Ukrainian people receive Sakharov freedom prize
The people of Ukraine received the European Parliament's annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Wednesday to honour their fight against Russia's invasion.
"There is no one more deserving of this prize," said European Parliament president Roberta Metsola at an event with representatives of Ukrainian society who received the prize on behalf of the country's people.
The prize, named after the late Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, has been awarded annually since 1988 to individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.
12:53pm: Zelensky urges Europe to back war tribunal for Russian leaders
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Wednesday urged Europe to help set up a tribunal to try Russia's leadership for the "crime of aggression", as he accepted the EU's top rights award.
"I call on all of you, your parties and states to effectively support this work. The tribunal must start working," Zelensky told the European Parliament in a speech via video link.
12:33pm: Ukraine considers moves to ensure border security, says president's office
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and top military officials discussed moves to ensure border security at a meeting of the supreme command on Wednesday, the president's office said.
The office placed particular emphasis on the moves to secure the border in a statement issued after the meeting, without saying which part of the border was focussed on.
The statement followed a flurry of military activity in neighbouring Belarus, an ally of Moscow.
12:26pm: Release of 64 Ukrainian servicemen, one US citizen secured in prisoner swap, Ukraine says
Ukraine said Wednesday that it had secured the release of a US citizen as well as 64 Ukrainian military servicemen in its latest prisoner swap with Russian forces.
"Sixty-four soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who fought in Donetsk and Lugansk – in particular participated in the defence of the city of Bakhmut – are going home," the Ukraine presidency's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on social media.
"It was also possible to free a US citizen who helped our people – Suedi Murekezi," Yermak said.
Russia's state-run TASS news agency has reported that Murekezi was arrested in the Donetsk region of Ukraine in June and charged with attending anti-Russian protests and inciting "ethnic hatred".
12:21pm: Russian forces strike Kherson regional administration building, Ukraine says
Russian forces firing rockets hit the regional administration building in the city of Kherson on Wednesday, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office said.
Ukraine recaptured Kherson from Russian forces on November 11, prompting days of celebrations by residents on the city’s central square, where the administration building is located.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the square on November 14 to hail the end of the Russian occupation.
Russian forces have been shelling Kherson from the opposite side of the Dnipro River since leaving the city.
11:38am: Pope calls for people to spend less on Christmas, donate savings to Ukraine
Pope Francis on Wednesday called on people to spend less on Christmas presents and celebrations, and donate the money saved to those in war-ravaged Ukraine.
"It is nice to celebrate Christmas. But let's lower the level of Christmas spending a bit," Francis said in his weekly general audience at the Vatican.
"Let's have a more humble Christmas, with more humble gifts. Let's send what we save to the Ukrainian people, who need it," he said.
Nearly 10 months into the war, hardship from the fighting has compounded as winter sets in and Russia pounds Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
The Ukrainians "are suffering so much. They are hungry, cold. So many people are dying because there are no doctors or nurses", the pope said.
11:11am: Kremlin says it has not received proposals for 'Christmas ceasefire'
The Kremlin said on Wednesday it had not received any proposals about a "Christmas ceasefire" in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called earlier this week on Russia to start withdrawing its troops from Ukraine by Christmas as the first step towards a peace deal in the conflict, which has been raging for almost 10 months.
11:03am: Kremlin says US Patriot missile defence systems in Ukraine would be legitimate target
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that US Patriot missile defence systems would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes against Ukraine, should the United States authorise the systems to be delivered to support Kyiv.
Washington is finalising plans to send the Patriot system to Ukraine, a decision that could be announced as soon as this week, three US officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
But what would this technology mean for Ukraine? FRANCE 24 correspondent Gulliver Cragg, reporting from Kyiv, says it's "something the Ukrainians have been clamouring for for months". He explains that "the older, Soviet-made systems that Ukraine has are seriously running out of ammunition".
10:32: Russian drone strikes on Kyiv did not damage power sector, says Ukrenergo
Russian drone strikes on Kyiv and the region around the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday did not damage any energy facilities, national power grid operator Ukrenergo said.
Russia has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure with big waves of missile and drone strikes since October.
"Thanks to the brilliant work of the air defence forces, the energy infrastructure facilities were not damaged (on Wednesday) – all 13 drones were shot down," Ukrenergo said on the Telegram messaging app.
9:51am: Villages in Mykolaiv region without electricity
Back from Ukraine, FRANCE 24 chief foreign editor Rob Parsons recounts the difficulties faced by Mykolaiv region inhabitants weathering icy conditions without power.
“Many of [the villages] haven’t had electricity for the last nine months,” says Parsons. Ukrainian electricians are trying to restore infrastructure in "awful" conditions while working carefully near mined terrain.
9:28am: Don't undermine EU with foreign policy vetoes, Scholz warns member states
The European Union is united in its support for Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the German parliament, adding, with apparent reference to Hungary, that attempts to undermine the bloc's values by blocking foreign policy measures would fail.
"Anyone who thinks he can undermine the values of the EU, to which every member state has committed itself, by blocking its foreign and security policies, will fail in that attempt," he told legislators on Wednesday.
Hungary earlier this week dropped its objections to an EU loan to Kyiv after the partial unfreezing of financial supports for Budapest that had earlier been frozen over rule of law concerns.
>> Showdown between Brussels and Budapest: The battle over Hungary's EU funds
9:14am: Ukraine shot down 'all' 13 drones in Kyiv attack, says Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Ukrainian air defence systems had shot down 13 Iranian-made kamikaze drones that targeted the capital Kyiv earlier in the day.
Russia "started this morning with 13 Shaheds ... all 13 were shot down by our Ukrainian air defence systems", Zelensky said in a video address on social media, referring to Iranian-made suicide drones that Moscow has been accused of deploying against targets in Ukraine.
"Thankfully, the authorities are saying there are no casualties," says FRANCE 24 correspondent Gulliver Cragg, who brings us the latest from the ground in this report:
6:30am: Blasts heard in central Kyiv
The mayor of Kyiv is reporting multiple explosions in the Ukrainian capital, the first such blasts in weeks.
Vitaly Klitschko wrote in a post on Telegram that there were explosions in a central district of the capital that is home to many government agencies and buildings. He said municipal teams were in place and more details were expected.
In a separate post, Klitschko said air-defence systems had shot down 10 Iranian-made Shahed drones aiming for Kyiv.
1:42am: US finding grid equipment for Ukraine at home and abroad
As Washington sends Ukraine US-sourced power equipment to help the country's grid recover from Russian attacks, it is also scouring for those supplies worldwide, US officials said on Tuesday.
The Biden administration this week shipped the first portion of $53 million in power equipment aid it announced last month. The open market value is likely to be higher because utilities and manufacturers provided many items at cost and paid transportation costs.
"They were really quite forthcoming," an energy department official said about the suppliers, but noted that not all US equipment is compatible with Ukraine's grid.
9:41pm, December 13: Zelensky says swath of Ukraine contaminated with mines
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday called for long-term help in clearing the nation of mines and other unexploded ordinance, which he said now cover an area roughly the size of Cambodia.
In a video address to New Zealand's parliament, Zelensky described Russia's nearly year-old invasion as an "ecocide" that would have lasting impact and implored Wellington and others to step up aid.
"As of now, 174,000 square kilometres (67,000 square miles) of Ukrainian territory are contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance," Zelensky told lawmakers.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
