EU promises $180 million in energy funding for Ukraine

The European Union announced Thursday it will provide Ukraine with about $180 million in energy funding – about $111 of it coming from frozen Russian assets – ahead of what promises to be a tough winter after Russian attacks on the nation’s energy grid.

At a Brussel news conference, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said about $67 million of the funding will go toward shelters, heaters and other humanitarian aid, while the balance, funded by the Russian assets, will be used for repairs to the grid along with investments in renewable energy.

Regarding the use of Russian assets, von der Leyen said,” it is only right that Russia pays for the destruction it caused.” She said the EU will continue transferring proceeds from the assets to fund Ukraine’s “energy resilience,” which includes decentralizing energy production, as well as adoption of renewables such as solar.

Von der Leyen said she is traveling to Kyiv Friday to discuss the energy situation plans.

The EU energy assistance follows a report from the Internation Energy Agency (IEA) which said because of an increase in intensity of Russian attacks on the nation’s energy infrastructure, Ukraine was facing perhaps the most difficult winter, from an energy standpoint, since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

Speaking at the same news conference, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said a Russian attack late last month damaged a large portion of Ukraine’s infrastructure.
Even before that, Birol said that “because of the previous attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, two-thirds of the power generation capacity of Ukraine was lost."

Birol said winter energy demands could be a major issue for electricity and heating, not only for Ukraine homes, but the IEA sees “huge implications” for the hospitals, schools, and communication networks. He said this may lead to some consequences “beyond the energy sector."

On the battlefield, Ukraine said Thursday its air defenses shot down all 42 drones that Russia used in overnight attacks targeting regions across the country.

Ukraine’s air force said it also shot down a Russian guided missile. Russia’s attacks included drones directed at the Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Rivne, Vinnytsia, and Zhytomyr regions, the military said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the Kursk region and another drone over the Belgorod region.

The exchange of aerial attacks came a day after a Ukrainian drone hit a warehouse in Russia’s Tver region, sparking a large fire and forcing evacuations in the area.

"The enemy hit an ammunition depot in the area of Toropets," said Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, Reuters reported. "Everything that can burn is already burning there [and exploding]."

Igor Rudenya, governor of the Tver region, said on Telegram that the drones had been shot down and a fire was burning, but the situation was “under control.”

In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not mention the blast specifically, but he said a “very important result was achieved” on Russian territory that weakened the enemy.

Ukraine’s state security service earlier said the warehouse held missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition. Previously, Russian media had called the site a major conventional arms arsenal.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.