As in previous years of the war, Estonia is once again providing humanitarian assistance to help Ukraine prepare for winter. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is allocating €340,000 to help people living near the front line cope with damage to energy infrastructure caused by Russia’s continuing attacks.
Humanitarian needs are most acute in areas close to the front line. Estonia’s assistance will help families keep their homes warm and prepare their livestock for the winter, improve the thermal insulation of accommodation centres for internally displaced people, and procure mobile emergency centres for Ukrainian rescue workers. The assistance will be delivered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ long-standing humanitarian partners: NGO Mondo, the Estonian Refugee Council and the Estonian Rescue Association.
“Putin still hopes that attacks, cold and darkness will break the Ukrainians’ resistance. We will not let that happen. As a result of Russia’s continuing aggression, Ukrainians face yet another difficult winter of war. As the cold weather sets in, people across the country will have to contend with disruptions to electricity and heating and worry about how to keep their homes warm,” Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stressed.
“The situation is particularly difficult near the front line, where the need for assistance is greatest because of the fighting. As Estonians, we know very well what a cold winter means. That is why we are directing our assistance primarily to where it is needed most – to families trying to cope in their own homes, to people forced to flee their homes because of the war, and to rescue workers who come to their aid even in the most difficult circumstances,” Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna added.
Estonia is providing NGO Mondo with €160,000 to help accommodation centres for internally displaced people near the front line in Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv oblasts prepare for winter. Thirteen centres will be supplied with heating equipment and materials, while two of them will also undergo repairs and improvements to their thermal insulation. With Estonia’s support, approximately 860 internally displaced people – primarily older people, people with disabilities, women and children – will have warm accommodation this coming winter.
The Estonian Refugee Council will receive €160,000 to support families living near the front line in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. The funding will help families keep their homes warm and cover the costs of keeping livestock through the winter, as livestock farming is an important source of livelihood for many. The project is co-funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO).
The Estonian Rescue Association will receive €20,000 to procure equipment for two mobile emergency points for rescuers from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU). The mobile emergency points will provide people in crisis areas with a place to keep warm, access electricity and, where necessary, receive psychological support. SESU will deploy the emergency points to areas where people are most in need of assistance due to hostilities, air attacks and damage to energy infrastructure.
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