European cities launch initiative to collect power generators for Ukraine.

The Association of European Cities is launching the "Generators of Hope" initiative to collect and transfer power generators for Ukraine.

The initiative was presented at a joint press conference of Florence Mayor Nardella Dario, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola and Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

"The European Parliament and the EU have shown remarkable solidarity with Ukraine on the humanitarian, military and financial front. Now they need practical support to get through the winter. I call on all cities, towns and regions across Europe to join the Generators of Hope campaign. Together we can make a real difference," Metsola said.

Nardella said the situation that has developed in Ukraine due to the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure by Russia requires immediate action. "At our annual Eurocities Cooperation Platform in Vienna next week, we will present in detail the initiative to over 80 cities participating. We must act immediately. Winter is upon us, there is no electricity and gas, there is no time to waste," he said.

The mayor of Florence could not give specific figures, as the campaign was just launched today. " Now we will coordinate with over 200 major cities alongside our partner organisations, and with President Metsola, we will do all we can to offer direct relief to the people of Ukraine. We will be able to provide figures next week. Today we are saying that we are starting this initiative. We have the potential to provide several hundred generators to Ukraine," Nardella said.

In turn, Yermak thanked the EP for the resolution in which Russia was recognized as a terrorist state. "You all witnessed how in the past weeks Russia has intensified the bombing of civilian infrastructure. Today, Russia has destroyed half of this infrastructure. The rate of destruction exceeds the rate of recovery. Therefore, today we are facing fatal consequences - there are already cases of the beginning of an epidemic due to water quality that has deteriorated in some cities," he said, further detailing the resulting damage to critical civilian infrastructure.

"I call on European cities to consolidate their efforts to once again resume the supply of electricity, heat and clean water in Ukraine, including to hospitals and schools," Yermak said.

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