Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine recieves $2.5 billion aid from European Union

Ukraine’s finance minister said that the country has received over $2.5 billion in assistance from the European Union. The latest assistance is another show of support by the bloc to Ukraine as the war has continued for nearly nine months.

Ukrainian finance minister Serhiy Marchenko said Tuesday that the country has received over $2.5 billion in macro-financial assistance from the EU. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal also said the aid was “another step of solidarity” and thanked the bloc’s leaders.

“Received the next €2.5bln tranche of MFA from (the European Union),” tweeted Marchenko, adding that he is “grateful” to the bloc “for unwavering support. The total amount provided MFA to (Ukraine) from February 24 reaches €6.7bln. This is a crucial contribution to Ukraine’s financial stability.”

“The EU stands with Ukraine until (Ukraine) wins. Today, (EU) disbursed €2.5 billion in macro-financial assistance. Another step of solidarity,” tweeted Shmyhal, thanking the bloc’s executive leaders “for their support in such difficult times.”

On the same day, United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the disbursement of $4.5 billion in economic aid to Ukraine would start in the coming weeks. The funds were previously approved back in September, as part of the stop-gap government funding bill, and were aimed to boost “economic stability and supporting core government services,” Yellen said in a statement.

Yellen added that other donors should ramp up their assistance to Ukraine as it continues to push back against Russia’s aggression.

Russia has been bombarding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure following significant territorial losses on the ground. As Ukraine reclaimed the territory of Kherson, Russia intensified its strikes on the energy infrastructure across the country. Ukraine’s national power grid operator said Tuesday that the damage Russia inflicted on Ukrainian power-generating facilities was “colossal” but dismissed the need to evacuate residents.

Ukrenergo chief executive officer Volodymyr Kudrytskyi told a briefing that Ukrainians may face long blackouts but that the grid operator wanted to provide the conditions for people to stay in the country through the winter months. Kudrytskyi added that all no thermal or hydroelectric stations were left intact amidst Russia’s strikes.