Business news from Ukraine

The Ukrainian Red Cross (URC) has been providing uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Kyiv residents and communities across the country for five weeks since the escalation of the energy crisis began.

“Since the beginning of January 2026, the organization has been supporting the operation of more than 100 heating points deployed by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv, and is also setting up its own warming points. Here people can warm up, receive hot meals, hot drinking water, and recharge their gadgets. Over this period, more than 250,000 people have received assistance,” said URC Director General Maksym Dotsenko.

The Ukrainian Red Cross also provides hub warming points based in the capital’s schools. To support residents, more than 15,260 blankets, 5,040 sleeping kits, 1,380 sets of bed linen, 5,940 hygiene kits, heat guns, as well as hot meals were delivered. In addition, URC volunteers and staff provide psychosocial support.

Additionally, the organization supports the operation of 40 field kitchens of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine by providing the necessary food products and delivering thousands of portions of hot meals and drinks. Volunteers also deliver food to warming points and provide targeted assistance to people with limited mobility and to lonely individuals who cannot reach the heating points on their own.

A separate response area is ensuring the energy resilience of communities. The Ukrainian Red Cross is implementing a program to provide communities with 560 generators with a total capacity of 9.16 MW to support critical infrastructure facilities, Points of Invincibility, and social protection institutions. This makes it possible to ensure the continuous operation of vital services even during prolonged power outages. International partners played an important role in implementing this initiative: 447 of the 560 generators were provided from the European Union’s strategic reserves (rescEU) under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. They are intended to support communities most affected by Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. In addition, the German Red Cross and the Belgian Red Cross provided another 34 high-capacity generators.

The URC also recalled that since the start of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the organization has already delivered more than 15,000 generators to support medical facilities, schools, and kindergartens.

The Ukrainian Red Cross coordinates its actions with government services and international partners, responding promptly to the needs of communities. The URC noted the support and solidarity of donors and partners from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the U.S. Department of State, and the European Union.