UK, Poland to provide hundreds of homes, power to displaced Ukrainians

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Britain announced up to £10 million ($12.3 million) in funding Tuesday to support a UK-Polish partnership that will provide shelter and power to displaced Ukrainians.

"The two accommodation villages in Lviv, in western Ukraine, and Poltava, in the east will offer accommodation for more than 700 of the most vulnerable Ukrainians who have fled heavy fighting on the frontlines or lost their homes due to Russian shelling," the British Foreign Office said in a statement.

It noted that the UK-Poland partnership will provide £2.6 million ($3.2 million) worth of generators to support up to 450,000 people via schools, hospitals and community centers in various parts of Ukraine.

"For the past year, Putin has continued to target civilian homes and infrastructure, with the Ukrainian people paying a heavy price. This new UK-Poland partnership will help bring light, heat and homes to those most in need," said Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau hailed Ukraine's fight against Russia. "There is no free Europe without free Ukraine," he said.

British and Polish ambassadors to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons and Bartosz Cichocki, respectively, attended the opening Monday of a new accommodation village at the Lviv site, alongside key Ukrainian officials.