The U.S. government said it and the World Bank will provide Ukraine with an additional $1.7 billion in assistance to pay the salaries of its health-care workers and provide other essential services following Russia's invasion of the country.
The announcement on July 12 said the money from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Treasury Department, and the World Bank is aimed at alleviating the budget shortages caused by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “brutal war of aggression,” USAID said in a statement.
Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Liashko said paying the salaries of health workers is becoming more difficult “due to the overwhelming burden of war."
He said that “$1.7 billion is not just yet another financial support. It is an investment that makes us a step closer to victory."
USAID has so far given $4 billion in budgetary support to the Ukrainian government, with the funds being used for maintaining gas and electricity supplies to hospitals and schools, getting humanitarian supplies to citizens, and paying the salaries of civil servants and teachers, the organization said.