Given the ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure, Germany will send an additional 40 million euros in winter aid to Ukraine, Federal Republic Foreign Minister Johann Wadeful said last night, quoted by DPA and BTA.
"We are helping to keep homes warm and lit and to ensure that Russia does not succeed in breaking the morale of those defending their homeland with its targeted terrorist attacks on civilian gas supplies and heating", Wadeful said during a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Canada.
The money will be used for humanitarian measures, such as repairing heating systems and damaged houses, as well as supplying generators, blankets and hygiene products.
The people of Ukraine are facing facing its fourth winter of war, with temperatures often dropping to minus 20 degrees.
According to the UN refugee agency, more than 12 million people in the country are in need of assistance. The agency is currently supporting almost 400,000 people with cash, heaters, generators and energy storage devices.
Germany is one of Ukraine's most important supporters, but due to budget cuts at the Foreign Ministry, humanitarian aid to the country has decreased this year. In 2024, Germany's contribution was more than 400 million euros, but this year it has been more than halved.
Australia's High Court ruled today that the government can take back land that Russia leased for the construction of a new embassy, but said Moscow must be compensated, DPA reported.
In June 2023, the Australian government passed a law to prevent Russia from building an embassy near the country's parliament in Canberra due to national security concerns.
The court ruled that the Australian government had passed valid federal laws to return the plot of land, which was originally leased in 2008.
The court also found that the government was obliged to pay Russia "reasonable compensation".
In 2023 Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government had "received very clear security advice about the risk posed by the new Russian presence so close to Parliament House".
Moscow still has a presence in Australia at its current properties in Griffith, a suburb of Canberra.