The British government Tuesday announced £35 million ($44 million) in aid to repair Ukraine’s energy grid battered by Russian strikes and help Ukrainians confront freezing winter weather.

Some £20 million will be allocated to try to restore the power network and protect Ukrainian infrastructure, a UK government statement said.

A further £15 million will be made available to “provide lifesaving humanitarian support to the most in need as temperatures in Ukraine plummet”.

Russia launched one of its largest missile attacks ever in the early hours of Friday, once again targeting war-torn Ukraine’s energy grid.

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The attack “severely damaged” some Ukrainian power plants, the Ukrainian DTEK power provider said and knocked out electricity to thousands of people.

“As Putin’s oil revenues continue to fuel the fires of his illegal war, Ukrainian families are enduring cold, dark nights, often without heating, light or electricity, targeted by Russia’s relentless missile attacks,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“But these systematic attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure will not grind Ukraine down. It will only deepen our resolve and support,” he added.

Russia has conducted at least 11 large-scale strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since the beginning of the year, Kyiv says, with Ukrainians now enduring their third winter at war.

The UK government also sanctioned energy companies 2Rivers DMCC and 2Rivers PTE LTD, which are “key lynchpins in enabling the trading” of Russian oil, the government said.

Starmer further announced additional crackdowns on Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers which bypass Western sanctions.

The latest round of sanctions targets 20 ships. 

The UK government said it has now sanctioned more than 100 ships for transporting Russian energy, leaving tankers “idling uselessly outside ports” and “costing Putin and his war efforts millions in wasted funds”.

EU countries last week agreed to blacklist around 50 more oil tankers in their 15th package of sanctions since Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion.

The UK has also agreed to work with Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland, and Estonia to request proof of insurance from suspected shadow vessels in the Baltic and North Sea.

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