IMF and World Bank prepare support package of 4.6 billion euros for Ukraine
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank will help Ukraine in the coming months with a support package worth more than 4.6 billion euros. So say IMF director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank president David Malpass in a statement on the website from the IMF.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the devastating human and economic toll of the war in Ukraine. People are being killed, injured and forced to flee, and massive damage is being done to the country’s physical infrastructure. We stand with the Ukrainian people in these appalling developments,” write Georgieva and Malpass. Both the IMF and the World Bank say they are in daily contact with Ukrainian authorities about aid measures.
The IMF says it has received a request from Ukraine for emergency financing. The board of directors of the international fund will make a decision next week. Until the end of June, at least almost 2 billion euros will be available for the Eastern European country.
The World Bank says it is working on a support package worth almost 2.7 billion euros. More than 300 million euros must be available for Ukraine in the very short term, in addition to an extra support package intended for health and education.
Ukraine: Four killed in Russian rocket attack on residential area
Four people, including a child, were killed in a Russian rocket attack on a residential area in the Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr on Tuesday. That says Anton Gerashenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior, on his Telegram channel† A hospital in the city, 140 kilometers west of the capital Kiev, is also said to have been hit.
Gerashenko said the residential area was hit by a cruise missile intended for a nearby air base. The missiles were said to have been fired from Belarus. The number of victims has not been verified; on social media videos are going around of burning houses that Zhytomyr would stand.