Europe Moves to Unblock €6.6 Billion for Ukraine as Russian Strikes on Kyiv Intensify

Russian state agency TASS reported on Friday that the European Union has agreed to allocate €6.6 billion to Ukraine under the European Peace Facility. That account has been confirmed. Member states reached a political-level agreement at a meeting of the Political and Security Committee in Brussels on Friday, releasing money that Hungary had held up for more than two years and that became reachable after a change of government in Budapest. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on social media that the deal was "good news for Ukraine and bad news for Russia." The funds break down into €900 million for the European Union's military assistance mission, €1 billion for joint equipment procurement and €4.7 billion to reimburse member states for weapons and ammunition already donated to Ukraine, with formal sign-off expected at a foreign ministers' meeting on September 28. Several member states have said they will pass their reimbursements on to Ukraine, with air defence the stated priority.

The war reached further into civilian life this week. Israeli outlet Ynet reported that a 14-year-old boy with Israeli citizenship was killed when a Russian drone hit his family's building in central Kyiv, not far from the Israeli embassy, and that his family asked to bring his body to Israel for burial. Russian strikes across Ukraine on Thursday killed at least eight people, according to Euronews.

Ukraine's partners are also exploring capability rather than only cash. Russian business outlet BFM reported that Finnish President Alexander Stubb asked Elon Musk to enable Starlink coverage that would improve the accuracy of Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, a claim that frames a commercial satellite network as a direct participant in targeting.