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On 24 February 2022, the Russian armed forces launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. As a result of this unprovoked and unjustified aggression, substantial areas of the Ukrainian territory now constitute areas of war from which many persons are fleeing.
The EU stands united in its unwavering support to Ukraine and has stepped up its political, humanitarian, financial and military support to the country.
The European Commission is also closely cooperating with Ukraine's neighbouring countries to support them in providing protection for people fleeing the invasion.

20 June 2023 - The Commission has proposed to establish a dedicated financing instrument that will provide coherent, predictable as well as flexible support to Ukraine for the period 2024-2027. This new Facility will support Ukraine's efforts to sustain macro-financial stability, promote recovery as well as modernise the country whilst implementing key reforms on its EU accession track. It will support the transition towards a green, digital and inclusive economy that is progressively aligned with EU rules and standards.
Strong and comprehensive EU response
Since the start of Russia's war of aggression, the EU, its Member States and its financial institutions, in a Team Europe approach, are making available €38.8 billion to support Ukraine's overall economic, social and financial resilience. This has been in the form of macro-financial assistance, budget support, emergency assistance, crisis response and humanitarian aid.
In addition, military assistance measures are around €25 billion, of which €5.6 billion have been mobilised under the European Peace Facility.
This brings the total support made available so far to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's aggression to around €64 billion. Together with the resources made available to help Member States cater for needs of Ukrainians fleeing the war in the EU, the overall support to Ukraine and Ukrainians amounts to €81 billion.
As part of the commitment made during the College-to-Government meeting and the EU-Ukraine Summit, €1 billion of EU support will be mobilised for Ukraine’s fast recovery. This is to be financed through Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation (NDICI) and European Investment Bank (EIB) loans.
- Bilateral cooperation to increase Ukraine's resilience and support reforms: €585 million
- Loans and guarantees by the EIB, EBRD and other international financial institutions guaranteed by the EU, to help Ukraine meet its financing needs, support strategic state-owned companies, repair damaged infrastructure and ensure municipal service: €2.6 billion
- Civil society support: €31 million
- School rehabilitation and school buses: €114 million*
- Crisis response measures: €143 million
- EU grants for blending projects: €94 million
- On-going projects adjusted to meet urgent needs on the ground: €192 million
- Connecting Europe Facility support for Solidarity Lanes: €202 million
- Nuclear safety cooperation: €16 million
- Humanitarian demining (from the EU budget): €21.5 million
*including €34 million from the humanitarian support

In 2022, the EU has made available €7.2 billion in EU macro-financial assistance (MFA), €2 billion contributed directly by the European Commission, and €2.4 billion in loans of European Financial Institutions enabled by the EU budget. €500 million in budget support are part of the pledges from the ‘Stand up for Ukraine’ global fundraising campaign and the high level international donors conference in May 2022 to help Ukraine address urgent housing, education and farming sector needs on the ground. Overall, the support provided or guaranteed by the EU budget for the year amounted to €11.6 billion.
In 2023, in order to continue supporting Ukraine, the EU is providing an unprecedented support package of up to €18 billion, in the form of highly concessional loans, of which €13.5 billion has already been disbursed.
Humanitarian aid and civil protection

The Commission has allocated €685 million for humanitarian aid programmes in Ukraine to be implemented by humanitarian partners on the ground including €200 million for 2023. In line with the priorities of the Ukrainian government, the EU humanitarian assistance provides shelter, multi-purpose cash support, protection, healthcare, food assistance, education in emergencies, and water and sanitation.
In addition, over 95 800 tonnes of in-kind assistance with an estimated value of over €769 million has been delivered to Ukraine from EU Member States and partners via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
In 2022, the EU mobilised €330 million for an emergency support programme that helped secure access to basic goods and services, such as education, healthcare and food. It has also helped to protect the population, both internally displaced people and their host communities and to support small and medium enterprises and agriculture. Another important goal is to reconstruct civilian small-scale infrastructure, ensure energy security, and strengthen cyber security, media freedom and actions against disinformation. Previous on-going projects worth €192 million have been adjusted to meet urgent needs on the ground.
Emergency logistical hubs and rescEU aid
Due to exponential needs, we have mobilised medical supplies, temporary shelter units, and power generators, but also specialised equipment for public health risks such as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats for Ukraine via the rescEU stockpiles. With a total financial value of over €127 million, the rescEU support includes housing units, protection suits, decontaminants, ventilators, infusion pumps, patient monitors, ultrasound devices, power generators and more. The EU is coordinating medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients in urgent need of treatment, transferring over 2 600 patients to hospitals across Europe to receive specialised care thus far. An EU Medevac Hub for medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients was opened in September 2022 in Rzeszów, Poland. The hub offers a safe space for the patients arriving from Ukraine before they are transferred for treatment in a hospital in another European country.
Furthermore, the Commission has established civil protection logistical hubs in Poland, Romania and Slovakia, to distribute required aid to Ukraine as quickly as possible. These hubs will help channel the assistance being delivered via the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
On 21 April 2023, Ukraine became a participating state of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the European solidarity framework that helps countries overwhelmed by a disaster.
Temporary protection mechanism

On 4 March 2022, the EU triggered the Temporary Protection Directive. This gives displaced people fleeing the war in Ukraine certain rights in the EU, including a residence permit, access to the labour market and suitable accommodation or housing, medical care, and access to education for children. EU countries have welcomed millions of people from Ukraine since then and have given around 4 million temporary protection. The Commission introduced maximum flexibility so that Member States can also use unspent 2014-2020 cohesion funds to support people fleeing the war. Thanks to this, up to €17 billion have been made available.
On 19 September 2023 the Commission proposed to extend the temporary protection for people fleeing Russia's aggression against Ukraine from 4 March 2024 to 3 March 2025.
Solidarity Lanes
As part of the European Union's response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the European Commission and bordering EU Member States established on 12 May 2022 the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes. The Solidarity Lanes are essential corridors for Ukraine's agricultural exports, as well as the export and import of other goods.
Since May 2022, the Solidarity Lanes have:
- helped export around 53 million tonnes of agricultural goods (grain, oilseeds and related products) and over 42 million tonnes of non-agricultural products (ores, iron and steel, earths, wood) from Ukraine, bringing Ukraine much needed revenue for Ukrainian farmers and businesses
- provided technical support to Ukraine, Moldova and EU countries to facilitate and speed up procedures and remove bottlenecks at the border
- led to signing of freight agreements with Ukraine and Moldova on 29 June 2022 to further facilitate transit and transport from and to both countries
To sustain and further increase the capacity of the Solidarity Lanes, the EU has been mobilising significant investments through various existing EU and national programmes. Administrative and operational facilitation needs to continue, including on streamlining border crossing procedures, and more funding is needed.
In November 2022, the Commission urgently dedicated €250 million of grants to boost the Solidarity Lanes. For the short-term, this supported support quick improvements, in particular with mobile equipment, to reduce waiting times and improve movement through the border crossing points and their access routes. The Commission is also mobilising the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and €50 million to support the infrastructure developments needed to further increase the capacity of the Solidarity Lanes.
The Commission, Czechia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank Group have together mobilised €1 billion for Solidarity Lanes to increase global food security and provide a lifeline for Ukraine’s economy.
Support for Ukrainian school children

The EU is supporting the rehabilitation of damaged schools in Ukraine with €100 million, including €66 million through budget support and €34 million from the humanitarian funding. The European Commission has allocated around €14 million to purchase school buses that will bring Ukrainian children safely to school. Thanks to this and an EU-wide solidarity campaign, more than 300 buses are already on the way from the EU and its Member States, including donations from authorities, cities, regions, and transport organisations in 11 EU countries.
Support to the energy sector
In the energy sector, Ukraine’s electricity grid was synchronised to the EU. The EU will continue to support Ukraine in the energy sector, by ensuring the reverse flows of gas to the country. Ukraine will also be able to benefit from EU common purchase of gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen.
The EU has provided 2 500 additional generators, on top of the 3 000 already delivered since the beginning of the war. At the request of the European Commission, around €220 million have been made available to cover the immediate needs in the energy sector under the Ukraine Energy Support Fund established by the Energy Community. The EU is also delivering 35 million LED light bulbs for Ukraine.
Support for military equipment and training
Under the European Peace Facility, €5.6 billion have been mobilised to support the delivery of military equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In addition, the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine is tackling urgent and longer-term training needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. EU military support for Ukraine – provided by the European Peace Facility and the Member States directly – is €20 billion.
In addition, upon proposal by the Commission, the Council and the Parliament have adopted in July 2023 the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), aimed at urgently deliver ammunition and missiles to Ukraine and help Member States refill their stocks. By introducing targeted measures including financing, the Act aims at ramping up the EU's production capacity and addressing the current shortage of ammunition and missiles as well as their components.
The framework laid down by this new Regulation includes:
- An instrument to financially support the reinforcement of the Union's industrial production capacities for the relevant defence products;
- A mechanism to map, monitor and better anticipate the existence of bottlenecks in these supply chains;
- The introduction of a temporary regulatory framework to address the ammunition supply shortage.
Other types of support
- In May 2023, the EU renewed the suspension of all customs duties, quotas and trade defence measures on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, until June 2024.
- The Commission called upon the European telecom operators to prolong their agreement to suspend or significantly reduce any roaming charges for Ukrainians in the EU.
- In February 2023, the Commission and Ukraine signed Ukraine’s association to the Single Market Programme (SMP). This agreement will provide Ukraine with support to businesses, facilitating access to markets, favourable business environment, sustainable growth and internationalization.
- In June 2023, the EU and Ukraine signed an agreement associating Ukraine to the Connecting Europe Facility programme. This will enable Ukrainian project promoters to apply for EU funding in transport, energy and digital realms, further improving Ukraine's connectivity with its EU neighbours.
- Ukraine's association to Horizon Europe and the Euratom Research and Training Programme is a key instrument to preserve and nurture Ukraine's research and innovation ecosystem. The Commission announced it will open a new Horizon Europe Office in Kyiv by mid-2023.
- Since the beginning of the war, the EU has stepped up its immediate support to strengthen Ukraine’s cyber resilience with €10 million for equipment, software and other related support. A further €19 million from the €330 million package has been provided to support resilient digital transformation.
- The EU provides support through EU guarantees, issued by financial institutions, such as the EIB and EBRD. This should enable the Ukrainian government to lend and allows companies to offer vital services.
- The EU is also supporting the fight against impunity in Ukraine with a €7.5 million project to support the International Criminal Court investigations into war crimes committed by Russia. An EU Joint Investigation Team set up with Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Romania, Lithuania and Ukraine, is also supported by Eurojust. Find out more on holding Russia accountable
Support for future reconstruction

A major global financial effort will be required to rebuild Ukraine after the war damage. The reconstruction effort should be led by the Ukrainian authorities in close partnership with the EU and key partners, such as G7 and G20, and other third countries, as well as international financial institutions and international organisations.
The Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform was launched in January 2023 to coordinate short and longer term support by international donors and financial institutions in support of the Ukrainian economy. A technical Secretariat will support the work of the Platform; the Commission will host its Brussels office, and the government of Ukraine will host its Kyiv office. It will allow for close coordination among international donors and international financial organisations and will ensure that support is provided in a coherent, transparent, and accountable manner.
Documents
- Factsheet
- European Commission
Factsheets on EU solidarity with Ukraine
Publications explaining EU actions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine