The Government decided today to provide SEK 35 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. This will go to food, medicine, blankets, etc.
"At least 200 000 people in Luhansk are without water and electricity, and the mobile network is also down. Food, medicine and fuel are in short supply. The humanitarian situation is likely to deteriorate further if the conflict continues and the weather gets colder. As a major humanitarian donor, it is Sweden's responsibility to help the people of Ukraine," says Minister for International Development Cooperation Hillevi Engström.
The support will primarily be channelled through the UN and the International Red Cross, and is a response to the call for help from the Ukrainian authorities and the UN. Ukraine's Government will also need help to strengthen its authorities and institutions to better equipped if the crisis deepens and is protracted.
"There is a war going on in eastern Ukraine, and we can't carry on as though nothing has happened. I wish all our support was about closer ties between Ukraine and the EU but now there are people who need immediate international help," says Ms Engström.
The UN and Ukrainian authorities estimate that the current need amounts to approximately SEK 230 million. The funds available for Crimea under the Strategy for Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans and Turkey will now be used for humanitarian assistance instead.