Prague is allocating 8.5 million euros in financial assistance and equipment for Ukraine to get through the cold period, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.

According to Ukrainian media reports, he said at the Standing with the Ukrainian People conference in Paris on Tuesday the Czech Republic was supplying generator systems and heaters to the Kharkov region, Dnepr, Kiev, schools and hospitals.

He noted that this aid amounted to 5 million euros so that people would have electricity and heat during the blackout.

The Czech Republic is also allocating 2.5 million euros for the indestructible centers and 1 million euros to back doctors, Fiala said. The country will also provide pontoon crossings and bridge technology.

He also noted that the public and private potential in Ukraine has been used effectively, and Ukraine itself has shown great progress on its way to the European Union under these extraordinary conditions.

The chief of staff of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, said that “the speed of destruction exceeds the speed of repair”.

Visibly concerned about one of the “harshest winters in the country’s modern history”, he said that “the risk of a total blackout is very high”.

The EU has already provided 500 generators through the same mechanism and another 300 funded through humanitarian aid.

For the Ukrainian government, the priority is to restore the electricity network in the country, for which it has asked Europe for assistance.