The European Union announced Friday that it had made available $1.6 billion to Ukraine – interest generated from $225 billion in immobilized Russian Central Bank assets.

The Russian assets, frozen under sanctions levied in retaliation for Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale invasion, are projected to generate an estimated $3.2 billion annually.

EU officials say 90% of the funds will be held in the European Peace Facility, a reimbursement account for member states of the European bloc that send arms, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine. The remaining 10% will get absorbed by the bloc’s budget for Ukrainian defense and reconstruction.

Ukraine has expressed concern that Russian forces will further advance into the country if financial support were to halt.

Ukraine reported Friday that its missile forces struck a Russian military airfield in Crimea, the latest in a series of attacks in the region. A statement released by Ukraine claimed that the airfield is often used by Russia to control the airspace over the area, including over the Black Sea, and to launch attacks against Ukraine.

There was no immediate comment from Russian officials.

‘Warriors’ thanked

In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alluded to the attack, saying, “I want to especially acknowledge our warriors who strike at Russian bases and logistics in the occupied territory. The invader must feel that this is Ukrainian land … our warriors, I thank you for your precision.”

According to Ukraine, the attacks in Crimea have forced the Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet to relocate combat vessels to a safe harbor.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens were reported to be without power Friday after a Russian drone attack on Ukrainian energy facilities. Fifteen individuals were said to have been wounded in the attacks, which sparked large fires, according to Ukrainian officials. They said six residential buildings were also damaged.

Officials said 20 of Russia’s 22 drones were reported to have been struck down in the assault.

In the southern Russian border region of Bryansk, the regional governor said Russian air defense units intercepted 12 Ukrainian drones over the course of an hour late Friday.

“Thanks to our valiant defenders, all airborne targets were intercepted and destroyed,” Governor Alexander Bogomaz wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

In other developments Friday, Russia issued harsh sentences to several people convicted of treason and “terrorism” charges linked to Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine. They included two men, Mikhail Dariy and Ilya Kovylkov, who were sentenced to 22 years and 15 years, respectively, for allegedly plotting to blow up fuel tanks at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport to benefit Ukraine.

Also Friday, NATO member Finland suspected that Russia violated its territory with a Russian vessel believed to have been spotted in the eastern Gulf of Finland. That followed an incident in June, when Finland reported four Russian planes in its airspace.

In Hungary, officials Friday accused Ukraine of blackmail for blocking the transit of oil from Lukoil, a Russian group. This came after Ukraine issued sanctions that blocked the transit of Russian crude via the Druzhba pipeline in June.

The dispute has shown how some EU countries like Slovakia and Hungary still depend on Russian energy more than two years after a decision in the bloc to stop oil imports following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Governments in Bratislava and Budapest, which oppose the sanctions against Moscow and sending military aid to Kyiv — have blasted Ukraine for the halt to Lukoil supplies. They’re seeking EU mediation in the dispute.

Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said Friday that Ukraine’s decision was blackmail for Hungary’s and Slovakia’s positions on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials hold that the decision to move forward with the sanctions are not blackmail and have nothing to do with the matter.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

Source: voanews.com