This article was reprinted with permission after being published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The European Parliament has approved a loan of up to 35 billion euros ($ 38 billion ) to support Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction, which will be paid for with future revenues from Russian central bank assets that have been frozen abroad.
The , loan , accounts for the EU’s share of a larger plan devised by the Group of Seven ( G7 ) leading industrialized countries to lend Ukraine$ 50 billion.
It comes as Kyiv’s forces face a furious Russian insulting in the south and frequent dangerous strikes on cities and power facilities, which claimed seven lives, including three children, on October 22.
The plan, officially known as the G7’s Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration ( ERA ) Loans to Ukraine, was announced by the Group of Seven in June.
EU politicians on October 22 , voted 518-56 with 61 nays in favor , after the bloc’s governments approved the determine earlier this month. The majority of the Russian goods that are blocked are located in the EU.
Following the start of Moscow’s unwarranted invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the loan will be serviced by earnings generated by Soviet republic goods that have been frozen in the West.
Russia has protested the use of its freezing assets, estimated at some$ 300 billion, calling it unlawful and menacing retaliation.
As part of the same plan, Britain announced earlier on October 22 that it will provide Ukraine with a £2.26 billion ($ 2.4 billion ) loan to acquire more weapons systems.
The London authorities released a statement stating that U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves made the announcement while on a visit to Ukrainian army training in Britain.
The product is “earmarked as fiscal support for Ukraine’s military investing, enabling the Ukrainians to invest in key tools to support their efforts against Russia, such as weather protection, artillery, and wider equipment support”, the statement said.
The statement read,” Our support for Ukraine and her men and women in their fight for freedom from]Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression is unwavering and will continue to be that way.”
The loan is in addition to Britain’s existing$ 3.9 billion annual military-aid program for Ukraine and comes on top of the$ 16 billion already committed by London in military, economic, and humanitarian support for Kyiv.
Meanwhile, three people, including a young girl, were , killed in the northeastern Sumy region, which borders Russia, the region’s administration said, while in the eastern Donetsk region two children and a 64-year-old woman died in Russian strikes over the past 24 hours, according to local officials.
A 13-year-old girl died in Odesa during a school evacuation prompted by an air-raid alarm, police said.
The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 42 of the 60 drones launched by Russia at eight regions — Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kyiv, Kherson, and Kharkiv.
In Russia, authorities in two regions reported that Ukrainian drones targeted three alcohol distilleries.
In the Tambov region, southeast of Moscow, a drone strike sparked a fire at the Biokhim ethanol distillery, regional Governor Maksim Yegorov said on Telegram. Biokhim is one of Russia’s oldest manufacturers of “products of strategic importance for the state”, mainly ethanol, the company says on its website.
In the Tula region, south of Moscow, Ukrainian drones struck alcohol distilleries, one in Efremov, and one in Luzhkovsky, regional Governor Dmitry Milyaev said, adding that there were no casualties.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems shot down 18 Ukrainian drones overnight.
In recent months, Ukraine has been increasingly targeting Russian oil and fuel depots and other military-related facilities, whose civilian and energy infrastructure has been repeatedly ravaged by Russian attacks.