Ukraine received €1 billion ($1.1 billion) from the European Union. The payment came from proceeds generated by immobilised Russian Central Bank assets. The funds are part of the broader Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) program.

The G7 nations launched the ERA program. They pledged around $50 billion in total support for Ukraine. The program aims to stabilise Ukraine’s economy and fund its longer-term reconstruction.

Future earnings from frozen Russian sovereign assets held in EU countries and other partner jurisdictions will service these loans.

Ukraine estimates that it will need hundreds of billions of dollars to recover from the war. The government says reconstruction should come from about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. Most of those assets, roughly €210 billion, sit in Europe and are mainly held by the Belgian central securities depository, Euroclear. These assets will stay frozen until Russia compensates Ukraine for the damage caused by the invasion.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced the financial support. He said it would help address critical budget needs and reinforce Ukraine’s position. “This tranche is part of a fair and consistent approach: the aggressor must pay for the destruction it has brought to our land,” Shmyhal wrote in a statement. He thanked the EU and G7 partners for what he called an “effective mechanism.”

“We expect the next step, full confiscation of assets and stronger sanctions in response to Russia’s atrocities,” Shmyhal added.

Ukraine plans to use up to €3 billion from these frozen assets to boost domestic weapons production. Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshin said Ukraine has restarted manufacturing artillery shells. However, the war’s scale still forces the country to rely heavily on international partners. Funding remains the main bottleneck.

In January 2025, Hermitage Capital founder Sir Bill Browder warned that if governments fail to confiscate and transfer the $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, Europe and the UK could face a major refugee crisis and rising security risks.

Browder argued that sending the funds to Ukraine would allow the country to continue defending itself for several years without needing more Western military aid, especially if U.S. support declines under Trump.

He also warned that forcing Ukraine to accept territorial losses could cause 15–20 million people to flee to Western Europe and the UK. It could also raise the threat of further Russian aggression against the Baltic states.