War in Ukraine: $1.5 billion in aid from the World Bank, new round of Russian strikes… update on the situation

Une frappe massive de missile sur Kyiv, le 2 janvier 2023. MAXPPP – Nicolas Cleuet/Le Pictorium

Tous les jours, Midi Libre fait le point sur la situation en Ukraine. Ce vendredi 29 mars 2024, découvrez les dernières actualités autour de ce conflit.

Ukraine receives $1.5 billion in aid from the World Bank

Ukraine received a tranche of 1.5 billion dollars (1.39 billion euros) in support funds under a program of the World Bank, Prime Minister Denis Chmihal announced on Friday. "The funds will be used to cover expenses relating to social and humanitarian needs and reconstruction", said Denis Chmihal on X.< /p>

Among the funds, $984 million comes from Japan and $516 million from the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister said. Ukraine depends largely on financial aid from its Western partners, but foreign funding decreased in the first two months of the year. American aid has been blocked for months by the Republicans in Congress.

In March, Ukraine received a first tranche of 4.5 billion euros in financing under the "Facility for Europe' Ukraine, a program of the European Union. Kyiv devotes the majority of its own revenue to financing its defense and relies on funds provided by its Western partners to cover social spending.

"The effective work of the government, as well as the timely support of partners, allows us to maintain the stability of the financial system, even in times of crisis. large-scale aggression and daily terror by the Russian Federation", said Finance Minister Serhi Marchenko in a statement. (Report by Yuliia Dysa; French version Mathias de Rozario, edited by Kate Entringer).

New round of Russian strikes on the energy system

The already damaged Ukrainian energy system was once again the target of Russian strikes during the night from Thursday to Friday, Ukrainian authorities reported. "The Russians struck energy infrastructure again overnight with a massive, combined attack , power grid operator Ukrenergo said. "Thermal and hydroelectric power plants in the western and central regions were damaged."

The Ukrainian army announced that it had destroyed 58 of 60 drones and 26 of 39 missiles launched from Russia overnight. Reuters was unable to independently verify these claims. The hydroelectric power stations of Kaniv, on the Dnieper southeast of Kyiv, and Dnister, near the Moldovan border, were notably attacked, said Volodimir Zelensky. In a statement, the Ukrainian president accused Russia of wanting to repeat the environmental disaster in the Kherson region, referring to the destruction of the Nova Khakhovka dam in June 2023. , which caused a gigantic flood in southern Ukraine. "But today, not only Ukraine, but also Moldova is threatened", added Volodimir Zelensky.

Last week, the DniproHES dam in the Zaporizhia region (south) was targeted eight times by the Russians in another large-scale night attack. In total, energy infrastructure in six regions of Ukraine was hit last night, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Chmihal said in a statement. Russian forces attacked facilities near the town of Dnipro in the Kamianske district, wounding at least one person, according to regional officials. Energy infrastructure was also attacked in the Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Cherkasy regions, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.

Largest private energy operator DTEK said three of its thermal power plants were "severely damaged" . In a sign of intensifying Russian strikes on the Ukrainian electricity grid, electricity supplier Yasno said this week that DTEK had lost half of its production capacity due to Russian attacks. The public oil and gas group Naftogaz also reported attacks on its installations, although without significant damage. (Written by Pavel Polityuk; French version Corentin Chappron, edited by Kate Entringer and Jean-Stéphane Brosse).