The Polish public has provided over 16 million zloty (€3.8 mln) this year to help Ukrainians stay warm as Russian attacks on energy infrastructure left millions without electricity amid freezing temperatures.
Moscow’s strikes on Ukraine’s energy system have escalated this winter, causing prolonged blackouts and disruptions to heat and water supplies.
This has deepened a humanitarian crisis across the country, including in Kyiv, as the mercury dropped below –20 °C in some regions.
Around 10.3 million zloty (€2.4 mln) has been donated by the Polish public through a grassroots campaign called “Warmth for Kyiv.”
The initiative was launched on the Polish fundraising platform Pomagam.pl in January in response to the worsening energy crisis in the Ukrainian capital.
Meanwhile, Catholic parishes in the Krakow Archdiocese in southern Poland, alongside local branches of the Christian charity Caritas, collected an additional 5.7 million zloty (€1.4 mln), the Polish embassy in Kyiv said on Wednesday.
In addition to such financial help, the Polish government has donated over 1,000 power generators and heaters from national reserves to support Ukraine amid blackouts.
Ukraine has experienced what some observers call one of its worst winters since Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion due to the scale of Russian attacks on the country’s key infrastructure.
The UN said that Russia struck Ukraine’s energy system nearly daily in January.