For the people of Ukraine, the nights have grown darker this autumn. Some 600,000 civilians were left without power after a wave of strikes on the country’s energy grid, part of what officials describe as one of the largest ballistic missile attacks Ukraine has ever faced. Against that backdrop, Britain has stepped forward with £17 million to repair the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, whose protective shelter was damaged by a Russian drone strike last year.
The announcement, made today by the Chancellor and the Foreign Secretary, places ordinary Ukrainians at the centre of a story that might otherwise read as one of treaties and treasuries. The money will fund crucial repairs to restore the structure’s confinement and ventilation functions and protect its intended lifespan. Without those repairs, corrosion risks undermining decades of international investment and creating longer-term environmental and safety risks, dangers that would fall first on the communities living near the site and across the region.
The UK contribution forms part of an international programme coordinated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, working alongside the Government of Ukraine and G7 donors. Britain joins its G7 partners in a funding package intended to back Ukraine’s nuclear safety in the face of continued Russian aggression.
The human toll of the wider campaign is stark in the numbers. Between 5 and 11 October, Russia carried out more than 200 strikes on electricity infrastructure and a further 17 strikes on oil and gas facilities. That includes 6 energy attacks since President Trump announced the ceasefire on Sunday. Just this week, on 13 October, Russia fired 39 ballistic missiles at Ukraine in one of the largest ever attacks of its kind, much of it targeted at energy infrastructure. For families across the country, the consequence has been life without electricity as winter approaches.
Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey MP framed the support as a promise to the Ukrainian people. “As the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Putin continues, our commitment to the Ukrainian people is unshakeable,” he said. “We are curtailing the war chest funding Putin so desperately wants and backing the reconstruction of Ukraine that has suffered at the hands of his barbaric attacks.”
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband echoed that message. “Our message to Putin is clear: we stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and will do so until they prevail,” he said. “Working with our allies, we are strengthening Ukraine’s security, raising the cost of Russia’s aggression and working towards a just and lasting peace.”
Meanwhile, the new money builds on a long-standing British record at Chornobyl. The UK was a founding donor to the International Chornobyl Cooperation Account in 2020, when that body took over responsibility for safety at the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Britain’s total donations to the account now stand at €8 million, making it the third largest individual donor behind Norway and France.
The announcement also follows a flurry of diplomatic activity. Last week the Foreign Secretary visited Kyiv for the first time since taking office, where he announced £54 million of winter support funding, including £20 million in energy support to help keep the lights on and Ukrainian homes warm. And yesterday the Prime Minister welcomed President Zelenskyy to Downing Street, calling on allies to increase pressure on Putin’s war machine.
Behind the figures lies a broader pattern of British support that officials say now totals almost £25 billion, including over £770 million in energy funding. The UK has sanctioned over 3,500 individuals, entities and ships under its Russia sanctions regime, of which over 3,300 were imposed since the full-scale invasion in 2022.
For now, the immediate promise is a practical one: that the shelter over the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster will hold, that the lights will come back on for hundreds of thousands of people, and that the communities living in the shadow of both the reactor and the war will not be left to face the winter alone.