PRESS RELEASE : UK-Poland partnership to provide homes and power to Ukraine [March 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 28 March 2023.

The UK has announced up to £10 million in funding to support a new UK-Polish partnership which will provide shelter and power for Ukrainians displaced by Russian attacks.

• New partnership backed by up to £10 million in UK funding announced to provide shelter and power for Ukrainians displaced by Russian attacks.
• UK-Poland partnership will provide vital temporary housing in purpose-built villages for more than 700 of the most vulnerable displaced people in Ukraine.
• Generators to meet urgent power needs will also be provided following Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure over winter.

The UK and Poland will build two major temporary villages in west and east Ukraine to provide vital housing to those forced from their homes by barbaric Russian attacks. The UK has announced up to £10 million in funding to support the new UK-Polish partnership, which will deliver temporary shelters, energy supplies and assistance to those who have lost their homes since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The two accommodation villages in Lviv, in western Ukraine, and Poltava, in the east will offer accommodation for more than 700 of the most vulnerable Ukrainians who have fled heavy fighting on the frontlines or lost their homes due to Russian shelling.

More than 17.6 million people are thought to be in humanitarian need in Ukraine, with more than eight million having registered as refugees in Europe – the largest movement in Europe since the Second World War. Nearly 50% of Ukraine’s pre-war population is in need of humanitarian assistance due to the catastrophic impact of President Putin’s invasion.

Around 6 million people are currently displaced within Ukraine, having been forced to leave their homes and facing freezing winter condition due to the brutal Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, which is a total violation of the UN Charter and international law.

Ongoing Russian targeting of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has also left nearly 10 million people without power. Widespread power cuts, some lasting eight to twelve hours a day, have forced families to resort to desperate measures for survival, like melting snow for water and heating bricks for warmth.

The UK-Poland partnership will also provide £2.6 million worth of generators to support up to 450,000 people via schools, hospitals and community centres in re-taken and frontline areas, including Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Kherson. The UK and Poland are also working with the Ukrainian Red Cross, donating up to £2.5 million to support those living through extreme cold in harsh winter conditions.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

For the past year, Putin has continued to target civilian homes and infrastructure, with the Ukrainian people paying a heavy price. This new UK-Poland partnership will help bring light, heat and homes to those most in need.

The international community is resolute in our shared determination to support the Ukrainian people and see them prevail with a just peace on Ukrainian terms.

Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said:

Poland was first to help Ukraine already in the early morning hours of 24 February 2022. The United Kingdom followed shortly after. Today we stand together in our joint endeavours to help Ukraine and its people.

From the pages of the Polish history we know that Ukraine is fighting not only for their freedom but also for our freedom. There is no free Europe without free Ukraine.

Today, together with the United Kingdom, we stand side-by-side in providing shelter, warmth and above all, in providing hope for the Ukrainian IDPs, both in the west and in central-east of the country.

The Russian aggression on Ukraine was the second act of the barbaric “Russkij mir” tragedy. The first act started nearly a decade ago with the annexation of Crimea by Russia. The third and final act will be the end of hostilities and peace written by Ukrainians.

Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyy said:

I would like to thank our international partners for their support and help.

Together, we have managed to complete this project to a high standard and make the accommodation comfortable for displaced Ukrainians who needed a new and safe home in a short space of time.

Thanks to your support, hundreds of people have got a chance for a new life, because Russia took away their old one.

The British and Polish Ambassadors to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons and Bartosz Cichocki, attended the opening of the new accommodation village at the Lviv site yesterday [Monday], alongside key Ukrainian officials

The UK-Poland shelter project is being delivered by Solidarity Fund Poland. It builds on Poland’s existing shelter programme in Ukraine, which has already provided housing for tens of thousands of people.

Through our £220m humanitarian assistance, we are prioritising the most vulnerable, including women and children, the elderly and those with disabilities. To date, we have helped reach over 15.8 million people in need during this crisis.