The World Bank provides an additional $500 million to Ukraine

The World Bank said on Monday it has provided an additional $500 million to help Ukraine meet urgent spending needs caused by Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion and ongoing war on its soil.

This came on the eve of a conference in Berlin on Tuesday where world leaders, development experts and CEOs will discuss how to rebuild Ukraine after the Russian invasion, now in its ninth month.

“The Russian invasion continues to wreak massive damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure – including water, sewage, and electricity networks – as winter approaches, putting the Ukrainian people at further risk,” World Bank Group President David Malpass said in a statement.

“The new portion of the funding will be used to maintain basic government services. We stand firmly in support of the Ukrainian people as they face this unprecedented crisis,” he added.

The World Bank has raised a total of $13 billion in emergency financing for Ukraine.

The World Bank, the Ukrainian government and the European Commission said in a September report that the Russian invasion had caused more than $97 billion in direct damage to Ukraine as of June 1, but reconstruction could cost nearly $350 billion.

Moscow described what it is doing in Ukraine as a special military operation to rid its neighbor of extremists.