Britain has pledged an additional £20 million ($25 million) to help Ukraine repair and protect its battered energy infrastructure, as freezing temperatures and Russian strikes leave hundreds of thousands without heat and electricity.
The funding, announced by the UK government, comes as London and Kyiv mark the first anniversary of their landmark 100-year partnership, celebrated Friday in the Ukrainian capital.
British officials said the new assistance is aimed at addressing urgent winter needs, with millions of Ukrainians – including children and elderly people – facing power and heating outages amid subzero temperatures.
The money will be used to repair and restore damaged facilities, strengthen protection of energy assets and boost power generation, ensuring electricity and heating for homes, hospitals and schools during what officials described as “extremely challenging” winter conditions.
Alongside the energy package, London also announced an expansion of a UK-Ukraine school partnership program. Over the next three years, another 300 schools will join the initiative, bringing the total number of participating students in both countries to around 54,000.
The British announcement follows additional support from Italy, which has begun delivering high-capacity industrial boilers to Ukraine as part of an emergency energy aid package.
The equipment, with capacities ranging from 550 to 3,000 kilowatts, is being sent to critical facilities most severely affected by outages. The total value of the Italian delivery is €1.85 million ($2.15 million).
Energy emergency declared
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine has declared an energy emergency following sustained Russian strikes on power infrastructure.
With temperatures plunging to -17°C (1.4°F), waves of Russian attacks have left parts of the capital without heat, pushing the city to the brink of a system-wide breakdown.
According to Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of Ukraine’s Energy Research Center, the conditions Kyiv now faces are without global precedent.
“Attacks on energy infrastructure at -15°C [5°F] in a city dependent on centralized heating are unprecedented anywhere in the world,” Kharchenko said.
Ukraine’s foreign minister has also announced plans to convene an emergency meeting of the energy-focused “Ramstein” format, as Kyiv seeks additional international support to stabilize electricity supplies amid intense cold and continued attacks.