England And Poland Will Build Temporary Settlements And Provide Generators For Ukraine

Ukrainian rescue workers in the rubble of buildings destroyed by Russian attacks. (Wikimedia Commons/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - The UK and Poland will build two temporary settlements in western and central Ukraine, to provide shelter for those expelled from their homes due to the Russian invasion, London said on Tuesday, promising a fund of 10 million or around Rp. 185,774,300,000.

Nearly 118,000 Ukrainians have been accommodated by British families as part of the government's response to the Russian invasion in February 2022, but some of them are increasingly difficult to find permanent housing.

The British government said settlements in Lviv in western Ukraine and the Poltava in central Ukraine would be able to accommodate more than 700 people, a fraction of the millions of people displaced in Ukraine or who had fled the country.

"Over the past year, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has continued to target civilian homes and infrastructure, with the Ukrainian people paying a heavy price," British Foreign Minister James Cleanly said in a statement.

"This new British-Poland partnership will help provide lighting, warmth and home to those most in need."

While citing the UK government's official website, Russia's targeting of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has also left nearly 10 million people without electricity. The widespread power outage, some lasting 8 to 12 hours a day, has forced families to take reckless measures to survive, such as melting snow to get water and heating bricks to warm themselves up.

To that end, the UK-Poland will also provide generators worth 2.6 million to support up to 450,000 people through schools, hospitals, and community centers in areas that have been recaptured and on the front lines, including Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Kherson.

Britain and Poland are also working with the Ukrainian Red Cross, donating up to 2.5 million to help those living in extreme cold weather in the harsh winter.

"The international community is unanimously determined to support the Ukrainian people and see them achieve fair peace in accordance with Ukrainian provisions," said Foreign Minister Cleanly.

It is known that the UK-Poland settlement project will be carried out by the Polish Solidarity Fund. The project was built on the Polish residential program in Ukraine, which has provided housing for tens of thousands of people.