The European Commission is announcing €153 million in emergency aid to Ukraine and refugee-hosting Moldova, as millions of Ukrainians face freezing temperatures without power under sustained Russian bombardment of energy infrastructure.
Responding to the urgent needs, the EU is allocating an initial €145 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine as well as €8 million for humanitarian programmes in Moldova to support the hosting of Ukrainian refugees who have fled the war.
Bringing together all the key humanitarian actors and donors, but also local organisations and civil society, the Sixth Humanitarian Senior Officials Meeting held today in Brussels was opened by Commissioner Lahbib, and Iryna Vereshchuk, the Deputy Head of Office of the President of Ukraine.
“As Russia’s full-scale invasion enters its fifth year, millions of Ukrainians are facing temperatures below freezing without power, without heat; cut off from the basic means of survival,” said Crisis Management, Preparedness and Equality Commissioner Hadja Lahbib (pictured). “With €153 million in new humanitarian aid and an additional 947 generators deployed this month, we want people to have shelter, warmth and hope when they need it most. Our solidarity with Ukraine is not a slogan, it is reliable, sustained humanitarian action driven strictly by needs on the ground.”
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the European Commission has allocated over €1.4 billion for humanitarian aid programmes in Ukraine and Moldova. In addition to humanitarian aid, at least €3 billion has been provided to Ukraine for energy security. In total, EU support to Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion amounts to €193.3 billion.
A press release is available online.
