Today in Ukraine, Administrator Samantha Power announced a $55 million investment in Ukraine’s heating infrastructure to help prepare the country for winter in the Russian Federation’s brutal war. This assistance supports the repair and maintenance of pipes and other equipment needed to provide heating to homes, hospitals, schools and businesses throughout Ukraine.
The new USAID assistance will directly benefit seven million Ukrainians in 19 regions. USAID also provides power generators and alternative fuel sources to hospitals, centers for internally displaced people, and shelters for socially vulnerable citizens, helping to provide the people of Ukraine with access to warm shelter during winter The assistance will go to parts of Ukraine that have been devastated by Putin’s war, including the regions of Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhya and Zhytomyr.
The new funding comes in addition to USAID’s significant assistance to Ukraine’s energy sector since the beginning of the invasion of the Russian Federation and will help Ukraine ensure a continued supply of heating and hot water to its citizens. Under the initiative, USAID has already provided heating pipes and other equipment to help restore services to 22,000 people in Kiev who had lost access due to the destruction of civilian infrastructure by the Russian military.
Assistance is provided through USAID’s Energy Security Project. The five-year activity aims to help Ukraine build a safer and more transparent energy sector that ensures a stable and affordable supply to citizens while reducing the country’s dependence on Russian gas and electricity. Since the beginning of the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022, USAID has helped Ukraine connect its electricity grid to the European electricity system, allowing Ukraine to export the electricity to the European Union for the first time.
The United States government has responded to the Russian Federation’s brutal war against Ukraine by offering $8.5 billion in direct budget support to the Government of Ukraine to help maintain critical services of the government, such as the payment of the salaries of the first responders, pension obligations and the maintenance of hospitals. In addition, the United States government has provided $1.5 billion in humanitarian assistance to millions of people, both in Ukraine and in neighboring countries, since February 2022.
In addition to strengthening Ukraine’s energy security during the war, USAID assistance helps farmers in Ukraine continue to grow food for domestic and global markets, supports Ukrainian efforts to document and seek accountability for war crimes and human rights abuses, filling key gaps in Ukraine’s health system, including supporting the delivery of 53 million doses of PEPFAR-funded antiretroviral drugs for 150,000 people across the ‘Ukraine living with HIV/AIDs, as well as nearly a million additional doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, and helps local government bodies in 91 communities respond to challenges caused by Putin’s brutal invasion.
