Ahead of winter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has promised new aid to Ukrainians, including free kilometres of travel on the railway.
“Three thousand kilometres, so that everyone can choose railway routes within Ukraine for free: Lviv-Kiev, Kiev-Dnipro, and any other [route],” Zelenksy said in his daily video message on Saturday, adding that programme details are still being worked out.
He said the Ukrainian railway should demonstrate to Ukrainian citizens that the budget funds used for the state enterprise truly serve society.
The kilometre amount mentioned by Zelensky is enough for two trips between the front-line industrial city of Zaporizhzhya and the major city of Uzhhorod on the Slovakian border, for example.
Additionally, the government will develop a winter programme similar to last year, in which 14 million Ukrainians each received the equivalent of just over €20 ($23.18) in support.
Zelensky promised: “We will definitely fix the gas price this winter – there will be no increases – likewise for the electricity price for private households.”
The cost of 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity is currently equivalent to just under €0.09. However, following Russian attacks with drones and missiles on power plants and substations, electricity is only available for a few hours a day in large parts of the country.
Even before the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine was the poorest country in Europe in terms of per capita income, according to calculations by the International Monetary Fund. Almost half of the Ukrainian state budget is financed by foreign loans and aid funds.