TOP HEADLINES

· Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country needed to speed up decision making in relation to the military campaign in Ukraine. The defense ministry said earlier that its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks in the southern Kherson region and eastern Luhansk region of Ukraine.

· German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was forced to take cover in an air raid shelter in the northern town of Koriukivka when sirens went off during his surprise visit. "We spent the first hour and a half in an air raid shelter," he said. "That really impressed upon us the conditions in which people here are living."

· The UN Security Council will discuss behind closed doors Russia's claims that Ukraine plans to detonate a "dirty bomb" and blame it on Moscow, diplomats said. Russia's UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, repeated the claim that Kyiv was planning such a provocation in a letter to the council and to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres seen by AFP news agency.

· Ukraine's foreign minister said inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog would arrive soon to inspect two Ukrainian sites at Kyiv's request, adding that it feared Moscow's "dirty bomb" allegations were preparation for a "false-flag" operation.

· Refugees who fled in the wake of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine should stay abroad this winter due to blackouts caused by Moscow's bombardment of critical energy infrastructure, a Ukrainian minister has said. READ MORE BELOW

· The Ukrainian military claimed to have pushed out Russian forces from several villages in the northeast of the country, in Kyiv's first recent announcement of territorial gains in Donbas. "Due to successful actions, our troops pushed the enemy out of the settlements of Karmazynivka, Myasozharivka and Nevske in the Luhansk region and Novosadove in Donetsk region," the Ukrainian military said in a statement.

· Five people were injured in a blast in the Russian-held city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine, the city's Moscow-backed administration said. "A car exploded near the ZaMedia media group building in Melitopol," damaging it and nearby residential homes, the local administration said on Telegram. "Five people were slightly injured, including employees of the media group. One was hospitalized," it added.

· Seven civilians have been killed and three injured in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, the regional governor said. Three bodies of civilians killed earlier were also discovered in two places in the region, which has been at the center of intense fighting with the Russian army for months, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram.

· German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that rebuilding Ukraine was a "generational task" that must start immediately, even as Russia's offensive rages on. Speaking at a reconstruction conference in Berlin, Scholz said that rebuilding Ukraine marked a "challenge for generations" but one that also provided a chance to modernize its infrastructure. READ MORE BELOW

· Norway's counter-espionage service PST said it had arrested a suspected Russian spy masquerading as a Brazilian academic. The suspect was detained on Monday morning as he was making his way to his job at Tromso university, in northern Norway, public broadcaster NRK said. "We think he's working undercover for the Russian authorities," PST deputy director Hedvig Moe told broadcaster TV2. 

· Britain's new prime minister, Rishi Sunak, vowed to help Ukraine fight off Russia's offensive. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Sunak called it a "terrible war that must be seen successfully to its conclusion."

· Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that her country would "continue to be a reliable partner of NATO in supporting Ukraine," amid concerns over the pro-Russian stance of her coalition partners. She told parliament  that her government will not give in to "blackmail" from Russian President Vladimir Putin over the conflict.

IN DETAIL

Ukraine's Deputy PM asks refugees 'not to return' until spring

Refugees who fled in the wake of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine should stay abroad this winter due to blackouts caused by Moscow's bombardment of critical energy infrastructure, a Ukrainian minister has said.

In an interview broadcast on Ukrainian national television, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Ukrainians currently sheltering abroad that they should wait until spring before returning to Ukraine.

"I wanted to ask (them) not to return. We need to survive the winter," she said.

Since October 10, Russia has launched waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Kyiv says they have damaged up to 40 percent of the power system.

A local official in Kyiv, the capital, warned last week that residents needed to be prepared for possible disconnections lasting days or even weeks. This poses a problem for refugees, many of whom have struggled to find well-paid, permanent jobs in their new countries of residence.

Vereshchuk said the grid "won't survive" the return of refugees from abroad, and that the situation would "only get worse".

"To return now is to risk yourself and your children, your vulnerable relatives," she said.

Scholz: Rebuilding Ukraine 'a challenge for generations'

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said rebuilding Ukraine was a "generational task" that must start immediately, even as Russia's offensive rages on.

"What is at stake here is nothing less than creating a new Marshall Plan for the 21st century – a generational task that must begin now," Scholz said as he opened an international reconstruction conference for Ukraine in Berlin.

Scholz said that rebuilding Ukraine marked a "challenge for generations" but one that also provided a chance to modernize its infrastructure.

The task is "one that will require the combined strength of the entire international community but it is also an opportunity for generations to come if we get it right," he said.

Speaking at the same event, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called the scale of destruction in Ukraine "staggering," with the World Bank estimating the toll of the damage at $345 billion. 

"This is for sure more than one country or one union can provide alone," she said. "We need all hands on deck."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also addressing the one-day conference hosted by the German government, via video link. 

He appealed to international supporters to cover his country's $38-billion budget hole for 2023, saying such assistance was essential if Ukraine is to get back on its feet.

"At this very conference we need to make a decision on assistance to cover the next year's budget deficit for Ukraine," he said. "For Ukraine it is a very significant amount of money."