Victorious news of 296th day of war: Ukrainian woman is among top 10 scientists in world, 9th package of sanctions against Russia and 60 downed missiles

In the Kyiv region, a territorial defence soldier shot down a Russian missile from a machine gun

On December 16, a serviceman of the Territorial Defense Forces, during a mass Russian attack, shot down a cruise missile flying towards Kyiv with a machine gun. The machine gunner spotted the cruise missile and managed to open fire and damage it. After hitting, the fragments of the rocket fell in the middle of the field near the army positions.

Meanwhile, Andrii Dyachuk, the commander of the Separate Presidential Brigade named after Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, shot down two enemy missiles with well-aimed shots from the Stinger MANPADS.

In total, the Armed Forces managed to shoot down 60 of the 74 missiles that attacked Ukraine on December 16. At least two more missiles did not reach Ukraine - they fell on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Ukrainian polar explorer in the ranking of the world's most influential scientists

Participant of the second Ukrainian Antarctic expedition and researcher of the National Antarctic Science Center Svitlana Krakovska was included in the rating of the 10 most influential scientists of 2022 according to Nature magazine. This is one of the most authoritative and oldest scientific publications in the world.

TOP 10 Nature shows the key events in science for the year and the people who played an important role in them, in particular, helped draw attention to the most urgent problems of humanity. The publication presented environmentalist Svitlana Krakovska as "Voice for Ukraine", because this year the scientist "became an international defender of her country". In particular, the scientist believes that the climate and the war in Ukraine have common roots - humanity's dependence on fossil fuels.

IFC allocated $2 billion for Ukrainian business

The Board of Directors of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) supported the allocation of two billion dollars to finance Ukrainian business. According to Yulia Svyridenko, the First Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Economy of Ukraine, the main directions of the program supported by IFC are trade financing of Ukrainian banks, the agricultural sector, and small and medium-sized business entrepreneurs.

The EU finally approved the 9th package of sanctions against Russia

The EU Council approved the ninth package of new sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on Russia due to its war against Ukraine

"I welcome the agreement on the 9th sanctions package against Russia.

It focuses on tech, finance and media to push the Russian economy and war machine further off the rails. It sanctions almost 200 individuals and entities involved in attacks on civilians and kidnapping children," said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Germany will allocate €130 million for the Energy Support Fund of Ukraine

The Federal Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection will allocate an additional 100 million euros to Ukraine for the Energy Support Fund. In total, until the end of 2022, Germany will provide the fund with 130 million euros, the German Embassy in Ukraine reports.

Austria will transfer another 5 million euros to the Energy Support Fund of Ukraine.

Canada, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Netherlands have already allocated funds for the Fund.