Ukraine has widespread power outages as temperatures reach a freezing -20 degrees, on Sunday.
A partnership between the European Commission and the European Investment Bank, provided an additional €50 million to Ukraine’s state-owned energy company, Naftogaz.
Marta Kos, Commissioner for Enlargement, said “the news coming from Ukraine every morning is horrific. What Russia is doing is state terror. This is beyond war. People are freezing to death. Many are fleeing Kyiv and other cities. The EU has worked closely with Ukraine to stabilise the energy system, but the scale of Russian attacks is such that Ukraine urgently needs more. This €50 million emergency loan, is one of many additional measures. We are looking into all possible options to help Ukrainians.”
This latest investment brings the EU’s total support for emergency gas purchases to €977 million, in the winters of 2025-2026.
Naftogaz is pledging to reinvest an amount equivalent to this financing into renewable energy and decarbonisation projects.
Russian forces continue to bomb energy infrastructure in Ukraine, leaving millions in the dark, without heating or running water.
In areas close to the front line in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions, the majority of Doctors Without Borders (MSF’s) patients are over 50 years old and live with chronic conditions that are now being exacerbated by the extreme cold and lack of proper shelter.
Ivan Afanasiev, an MSF doctor, said “today we were in a village that had an hour and a half of electricity for the whole day. Even our medical team was cold — imagine how the residents must feel. Patients have more difficulty controlling their blood sugar levels and blood pressure, and people with disabilities who cannot move to warm themselves are more vulnerable to hypothermia.”
Kseniia Lipynska, MSF procurement supervisor in Dnipro, said “even people in places farther from the front lines, like Kyiv and Vinnytsia, are feeling the impact of the power cuts. Some of the most extreme drops in temperature and power cuts have occurred in Kyiv.”
“Drones attacked a nearby power station, and I saw the flames through the kitchen window,” said Lipynska.
Picture: Doctors Without Borders.