The Diplomat
Accompanied by the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, stressed yesterday in statements to journalists that Spain’s support for Ukraine ‘will not falter’ in the face of Russian aggression, which he described as ‘unjust and unjustifiable’.
During his visit to the warehouses of the company Finanzauto in Arganda del Rey (Madrid), where the seven electric generators that Spain is going to donate to Ukraine through the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) are located, the minister stressed Spain’s strong commitment and solidarity with the Ukrainian civilian population.
Albares assured that cooperation will continue, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release, as demonstrated by the shipment of these seven electric generators, which are in addition to the 14 delivered in November 2022 and the two ambulances delivered in January of this year.
The Ukrainian ambassador, Serhii Pohoreltsev, thanked the Spanish aid in his speech and said that the generators ‘will help mitigate the consequences of the incessant Russian bombardment of critical infrastructure and ensure a stable electricity supply’.
‘Powerless to achieve their objectives on the battlefield,’ he added, “Russian troops are resorting to methods of terror against the civilian population,” he added, recalling attacks on civilian facilities, such as a recent one on a children’s hospital and another in which 200 missiles and drones were launched against several electrical installations.
‘This gesture by Spain sends an unmistakable signal to the Kremlin that all its plans to conquer Ukraine, to break the will of the Ukrainian people and force them to surrender, are doomed to failure,’ the ambassador said.
‘The Government of Spain,’ the Foreign Ministry statement said, ’in its continued commitment to the Ukrainian people, has financed and arranged for the donation of these seven generators to be sent to Ukraine to help alleviate the severe energy shortages caused by the recent attacks on the country’s infrastructure. This donation is part of Spain’s ongoing support to Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022’.
It consists of three 200KVa and four 220KVa generators, for a total value of 360,000 euros. The donation of this equipment responds to one of the Ukrainian authorities’ top priorities to protect their population in the face of an expected difficult winter.
The equipment will travel to Ukraine via Poland in the coming days, transported through the European Civil Protection Mechanism, which will cover part of the cost of transport to Poland, from where the European Union will arrange for its transport to Ukraine.
The main purpose of the donation is to prepare the Ukrainian population, institutions and businesses for the winter, which this year is particularly difficult due to recent Russian attacks on key energy facilities. These attacks have severely damaged Ukraine’s capacity to generate and distribute power – according to the minister, 70 per cent of Ukraine’s power generation capacity has been destroyed since the beginning of the Russian aggression – causing prolonged outages affecting millions of people.
It is estimated that these seven generators, with a total output of 1,200,000W, could supply electricity to approximately 240 families under normal conditions. The specific distribution of the generators in Ukraine will be determined once they arrive in Poland, following the priorities set by the Ukrainian government, which has developed an energy and winter preparedness plan.
