EU deploys 447 emergency generators in Ukraine following Russian attacks on energy infrastructure

The European Union has deployed 447 emergency power generators in Ukraine, valued at €3.7 million from its strategic reserves, to restore power to hospitals, shelters and critical services, after more than a million Ukrainians found themselves without electricity, water and heat in sub-zero temperatures following Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.

This was announced this Friday at a press conference from Brussels by community spokesperson Eva Hrncirova, who detailed that this new package of generators adds to the nearly 10,000 that the EU has already sent to kyiv since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and with which it seeks to alleviate the extreme temperatures below minus 20 degrees that a large part of the Ukrainian population is suffering.

The generators – mobilized from the strategic reserves of the ‘rescEU’ initiative hosted in Poland – will be distributed by the Ministry for the Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine in cooperation with the Ukrainian Red Cross to the most affected communities.

“We will not allow Russia to freeze Ukraine. We bring light and heat where Russia sends darkness,” claimed the spokesperson for the European Commission, who recalled that already facing winter the EU completed the transfer of a complete thermal power plant donated by Lithuania to restore critical capacity in the Ukrainian electricity grid.

THE EU WILL NOT ALLOW UKRAINE TO FREEZE

The European Commission has “strongly” condemned Russia’s attacks on critical energy infrastructure and the humanitarian damage they cause, and warned that the EU will not allow Russia to freeze Ukraine into submission and will continue to help Ukrainians get through this winter.

Furthermore, for the European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, “Russia’s continued attacks” on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure “are deliberately depriving civilians of heat, light and basic services in the middle of a harsh winter.”

“They are designed to break the Ukrainian spirit. They will fail. Europe responds with actions, not words. The new shipment of generators is already on its way, joining more than 9,500 generators provided by the EU that already supply electricity throughout Ukraine,” he said in statements sent in a statement.

For his part, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine, Oleksii Kuleba, has warned that Ukraine is currently going through “the most difficult winter since the start of the war” while Russia “continues to deliberately destroy” Ukrainian energy infrastructure and public services in an attempt to “deprive Ukrainian citizens of access to electricity, heat and water.”

“Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our specialists and the timely help of our partners, these risks are being minimized. We are deeply grateful to the European Commission and the Emergency Response Coordination Center (ERCC) and European Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), for their comprehensive and effective support to the affected communities,” he thanked.

The EU aid comes after Russia has in recent weeks intensified its large-scale attacks, causing supplies to collapse in the Ukrainian capital and leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without light and heat.