The substantial increase in EU humanitarian aid to prepare for winter in Ukraine - equipped emergency shelters worth €62.3 million - and €175 million in additional humanitarian aid for Ukraine and Moldova will be mobilised immediately.
The announcement was made in the evening of Wednesday 19 October, on the eve of the European Council (see EUROPE 13046/4), while the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, was in Kyiv to reiterate “that the EU is as dedicated as ever in its support to Ukraine” and to coordinate this large-scale humanitarian operation. He held talks with the president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and members of the government.
The shelters come from rescEU, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism’s strategic stockpile of equipment. This temporary shelter capacity will be immediately deployed in three regions: Rivne (500 shelter units), Bucha (550 shelter units and 1000 beds) and Kharkiv (600 shelter units). Each unit can accommodate up to five people and is fully equipped with beds and heating, showers, toilets, basic toiletry kits and communal spaces. This equipment is taken from the emergency stockpile hosted by Sweden.
In total, with a second stockpile in Romania, the EU can provide temporary emergency shelter for 46 000 people.
Of the humanitarian envelope, €150 million will go to humanitarian operations in Ukraine and €25 million to those in Moldova.
The main priority is to provide winterised shelter due to the expected freezing temperatures. Other priorities are access to water, education in emergencies, health and protection of persons.
This new funding will bring EU humanitarian aid to Ukraine to over €500 million since the Russian invasion on 24 February. More than 70 000 tonnes of life-saving items have been delivered to Ukraine by 31 countries participating in the Civil Protection Mechanism.
The Commission says it has started working with Ukraine for the country to become a member of this European solidarity mechanism. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)