Ukraine needs $14B in urgent aid after destruction of Kakhovka dam: EU Commission

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - Ukraine needs an additional $14 billion in urgent aid after last week’s destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, according to European Commission estimates announced on Tuesday.

Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Valdis Dombrovskis, the executive vice-president of the European Commission, said “Ukraine will need additional support this year” for reconstruction.

“The immediate rapid recovery needs $14 billion for priority areas like civil and social infrastructure, energy infrastructure, housing, private sector development, and humanitarian de-mining," he explained.

Dombrovskis underlined the EU’s commitment to supporting Ukraine’s recovery in 2023 and beyond but stressed the country needs a “broader donor base” to finance its recovery in the coming years.

“Ukraine’s reconstruction should also be financed by Russian assets,” he added.

“The EU is committed to ensuring that Russia is held fully accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine,” Dombrovskis asserted.

The European Commission announced last month that EU countries have frozen over €200 billion (about $216 billion) worth of assets of the Russian Central Bank.

EU experts are currently working on legal solutions for using the interest on the frozen assets for Ukraine’s recovery.

At least 10 people died and over 3,500 people were evacuated in southern Ukraine after the explosion of the Nova Kakhovka hydropower plant caused floodwaters last week.

​​​​​​​Both Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of destroying the dam.