The European Investment Bank (EIB) is preparing a EUR 4 billion financing program that will help EU member states take in Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war, as well as ensure the development of critical social infrastructure.
“The new EIB program, pending approval by the EIB’s Board of Directors, aims to finance the development of key social infrastructure for the provision of public services to refugees, including housing, schools, hospitals and kindergartens. The financial support will be complemented by advisory support, helping local authorities in EU Member States with free technical assistance to assess local needs rapidly, and plan, prioritize and prepare the related investments,” the bank said on its website.
“The EIB pledged the support for refugees at Stand Up for Ukraine, a global fundraising event in Warsaw to support the victims of the Russian aggression,” the report says.
“We are all devastated by the terrible destruction inflicted on Ukraine and its people, millions of whom are fleeing their country in search of peace and security. The horror we are witnessing strengthens our determination to act. With our initial Solidarity Package for Ukraine, and this new EUR 4 billion program for EU Member States, we will support Ukraine and help communities welcoming the refugees, ensuring they can offer them vital social facilities – housing, schools, hospitals. I am deeply grateful to President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for their leadership and for mobilizing the international community for Ukraine. The world must live up to the exemplary courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people and help them and those who support them,” EIB President Werner Hoyer said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that Germany’s position has recently been changing in favor of Ukraine.
“I spoke today with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. About how to bring to justice all those responsible for war crimes. How to strengthen sanctions against Russia and how to force Russia to seek peace. I am glad to note that recently the German position has been changing in favor of Ukraine,” he said in a video message on Sunday evening.
“I consider this absolutely logical. Since this is the course supported by the majority of the German people,” the president said, noting that he expects “everything agreed upon will be implemented.”
Losses among civilians from February 24, when Russia started the war against Ukraine, until 24:00 on April 9 amounted to 4232 civilians (in the summary of the day before – 4149), including 1793 dead (1766), reports the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sunday.
“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are much higher as information is delayed from some areas of intense fighting and many reports are still awaiting confirmation,” the document says.
According to him, this applies, for example, to Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izyum (Kharkiv region), Popasna (Luhansk region) and Borodianka (Kyiv region), where there are reports of numerous civilian casualties. They are subject to further verification and are not included in the above statistics.
“The majority of civilian deaths or injuries were caused by the use of explosive devices with a wide area of effect, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as rocket and air strikes,” the report says.
According to confirmed UN data, 458 men, 294 women, 46 boys and 27 girls died, while the sex of 69 children and 899 adults has not yet been determined.
Among the 2,439 injured were 47 girls and 46 boys, as well as 136 children whose gender has not yet been determined.
Compared to the previous day, three children were killed and 14 more injured, according to the UN.
OHCHR indicates that in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as of midnight on April 10, there were 571 (560) dead and 963 (944) injured in government-controlled territory, and 71 (70) dead and 275 (269) injured in territory controlled by self-proclaimed “republics”.
In other regions of Ukraine under government control (in Kyiv, as well as in Zhytomyr, Zaporozhye, Kiev, Sumy, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnepropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions), the UN recorded 1151 (1136) dead and 1201 (1170) wounded .
The report also states that, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, as of 08:00 on April 10, 176 (176) children were killed, 336 (324) were injured.
The summary traditionally states that the increase in indicators in it to the previous report should not be attributed only to cases that occurred on April 9, since during the day OHCHR also verified a number of cases that occurred in previous days.
Volumes of cargo transportation in jan- nov 2021, mln tons
The Cabinet of Ministers is allocating the first billion hryvnia from the Reserve Fund to restore the territories liberated from Russian troops, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“The funds will be used to eliminate the consequences of hostilities and the priority restoration of infrastructure,” Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram channel on Sunday.
According to him, UAH 400 million is allocated for the Kiev region, UAH 250 million each for Chernihiv and Sumy regions, and another UAH 100 million for the Zhytomyr region.
The Prime Minister noted that the funds will be used to repair engineering networks and systems for the restoration of heat, gas, water, electricity, as well as to dismantle the destruction, repair roofs, replace windows and doors, eliminate potholes on roads and other urgent needs.
The funds will be managed by the civil-military administrations in each region. On the part of the government, the process will be coordinated by the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories.
“This is only the first stage, and there is still a lot of work to be done on the capital restoration of our country. We will start this immediately after the victory,” Shmyhal stressed.
Finland is ready to tighten sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with the aggression against Ukraine, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in an interview with Yle Ykkösaamu.
“Every day people die in Ukraine. We have to make the war stop. We have to be prepared to be flexible in our own daily lives,” she said.
“Finland supports tougher sanctions, including those covering energy policy,” she explained, adding that rising energy prices would not deter sanctions.
“45 days of war is 45 days more than necessary. Russia is waging a dishonorable war, cruel and inhumane, and it must stop,” Marin said.
