BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (KUNA) -- The European Union (EU) said on Friday it will send hundreds of additional electricity generators to Ukraine after Russian strikes led to power and heating outages amid extremely low temperatures.
European Commissioner for Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib said in a post on X that Russiaآ’s continued attacks on Ukraineآ’s energy infrastructure are "deliberately depriving civilians of heat, light and basic services in the middle of a harsh winter." Lahbib added that a shipment of 447 generators is on its way to Ukraine, noting that it will be added to around 9,500 generators that the EU has already provided to the country since the outbreak of the war.
According to a statement by the European Commission, the generators are worth 3.7 million euros and come from the EUآ’s strategic reserves, with the aim of restoring electricity to hospitals, shelters and critical services in Ukraine.
The statement explained that the generators were mobilised from the rescue strategic reserves hosted in Poland and will be distributed to the most affected communities.
It added that this step responds to urgent needs and forms part of the EUآ’s continued support to strengthen the resilience of Ukraineآ’s energy sector, noting that the EU has sent nearly 10,000 generators to Ukraine through the European Civil Protection Mechanism since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Ahead of winter, the Commission also completed the relocation of a full thermal power plant donated by Lithuania in order to restore vital capacity to Ukraineآ’s electricity grid.
The European Commission strongly condemned the Russian attacks targeting critical energy infrastructure and the severe humanitarian damage they cause, stressing that the EU "will not allow Russia to freeze Ukraine into submission" and will continue to support the Ukrainian people through the current winter. (end) arn.mt