INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukraine's Western allies pledged an additional one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in emergency winter aid on Tuesday, responding to pleas
from President Volodymyr Zelensky to help the country withstand Russia's onslaught against its energy grid.Around 70 countries and
international organizations gathered in Paris for a meeting aimed at enabling Ukrainians "to get through this winter," said French President
Emmanuel Macron.In a video message, Zelensky said Ukraine needed assistance worth around 800 million euros in the short term for its
battered energy sector."Of course it is a very high amount, but the cost is less than the cost of a potential blackout," Zelensky told the
conference via video link.Pledges for the energy sector comprised 400 million euros of the funds raised on Tuesday, France's Foreign
imports, Zelensky said."Generators have become as necessary as armored vehicles and bullet-proof jackets," he said.Ukrainian Prime Minister
Denys Shmyhal said 40 to 50% of the country's grid was out of action because of Russia's strikes.Many areas of the country have power
for only a few hours a day.Another 1.5 million people were left without power in southern Odesa over the weekend after Russian drone
attackOn the battlefield Tuesday, local authorities in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol said pro-Kyiv forces had used explosives to
damage a strategic bridge.Melitopol is an important transport hub for Russian forces in the region of Zaporizhzhia and is key for Ukraine's
hopes of liberating the south of the country.The bridge in the eastern suburbs "was damaged by terrorists," Vladimir Rogov, a
Moscow-installed regional official, said on the Telegram messaging app.He did not specify the extent of the damage, but images on his social
media accounts showed that a middle section of the bridge had collapsed.Elsewhere on Tuesday, Belarus held a surprise inspection of its
armed forces, raising fears of a possible escalation in the conflict.Belarus is a close ally of Moscow, but Belarusian leader Alexander
Lukashenko has repeatedly said he does not plan to send Belarusian troops to Ukraine.Ukrainian PM Shmyhal also said Tuesday that the UN
nuclear watchdog IAEA had agreed to dispatch permanent teams to monitor the country's nuclear plants.They are expected to take up
positions in the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant, a hotspot of fighting, which has been a source of global concern in recent months.A
deal to de-militarize the site, which would see both sides withdraw forces, has proved impossible so far despite international diplomatic
efforts.'War crimes'Tuesday's conference in Paris, titled "Standing with the Ukraine People," also saw the launch of a new so-called Paris
Mechanism to coordinate civilian aid to Ukraine.The digital platform, announced by G7 leaders on Monday, will enable Ukraine to list its
requirements and allow international donors to coordinate their responses in real time."A large number of countries will use this mechanism
similar platform exists for military aid, which is coordinated via meetings of Ukraine's Western allies at the United States -run Ramstein
military base in Germany.Macron hosted Tuesday's conference alongside Zelensky's wife Olena, giving the French leader an opportunity to
which Russia openly admits are designed to break the resistance of the Ukrainian people, are war crimes," Macron said in his opening
unpunished."The French president has riled some of his allies in Kyiv in the past, most notably in June when he said "we must not humiliate
