EU to provide €160 million for energy support to Ukraine before winter

The European Union will provide €160 million to help Ukraine prepare for another winter amid Russian attacks on the country's energy system.

"I can announce that we will make an additional amount of close to €160 million available for this winter. This includes €60 million in humanitarian aid for shelters and heaters, for example, and it includes around €100 million for repair works and renewables. And these €100 million come from the proceeds of the immobilised Russian assets in the European Union," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a briefing.

"It is only right that Russia pays for the destruction it caused," she added.

Von der Leyen highlighted that the EU has provided approximately €2 billion in energy support to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war. This figure is a minimum estimate, as it does not include the value of all the supplied equipment.

Ukraine has received over 10,000 generators and transformers through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Meanwhile, the EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarína Mathernová, announced that to support Ukraine's energy system, which has been damaged by Russian attacks, the EU plans to increase electricity exports to Ukraine this winter and is preparing to supply energy equipment.

She estimates that Ukraine will face a difficult winter, though the situation will not be catastrophic.