President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has called on French mayors and heads of municipalities to provide specific assistance to Ukrainian cities and villages approaching winter.

"On the eve of winter, we are facing one of the greatest threats since the beginning of all-out war. The Kremlin has set the task of continuing the attacks on energy facilities to turn the cold of winter into a weapon of mass destruction. With this, Russia wants to do to the entire territory of Ukraine what it is doing to the occupied cities and villages," he said on Tuesday, speaking via video link at the 104th Congress of Mayors and Heads of Municipalities of France.

He appealed for help "to get through this winter and not allow Russia to turn the cold into a tool of terror and subjugation." "We need many things – from generators of various capacities to Starlinks. For us, this is not just a matter of equipment. For Ukraine, this is protection against terror," Zelensky said.

"We have clear agreements with President Emmanuel Macron. In particular, about holding in early December a conference on the rapid reconstruction of Ukraine already now – in accordance with our Plan for the rapid recovery of Ukraine. And I invite all of you to join the Conference and related efforts," he also said.

Zelensky noted that in total more than 3,700 cities, villages and towns came under occupation in Ukraine. "Now we see one thing in all these settlements – a complete lack of any opportunities to live normally and freely. We managed to liberate more than 1,800 settlements from the Russian occupation. And the consequences of the occupation are very similar everywhere. The Russian soldiers mined everything they managed to mine. The occupiers looted everything they managed to loot," the president said.

"When Ukraine asks for help in this war, it is not just about the clash of states - it is not just about the fact that Russia has come to take our land and our resources, which it wants to appropriate. This is a clash of two opposite attitudes towards people and towards life," he said.

"When Russia comes to a city, nothing is left of normal life there. Russia brings repression and abuse… When the Ukrainian flag returns to the liberated territory, we do everything so that normal life returns with it," Zelensky said.

That is why Ukraine, he said, is "so grateful to everyone who supports us – our defense, finances, reconstruction. It is literally a life-saving aid."