BERLIN, Dec 4, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Germany said Thursday it would provide an extra 100 million euros ($117 million) to support energy infrastructure in Ukraine, despite a recent corruption scandal in the battered energy sector.

The funds will be provided through Germany's KfW development bank and donated to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, the economy ministry said in a statement.

The new cash will bring Germany's total contribution to the fund to 550 million euros by the end of 2025, the ministry said.

Ukrainians are facing one of the toughest winters since the war began after Moscow carried out a heavy bombing campaign against energy infrastructure.

But efforts to reinforce energy infrastructure have been complicated by a report in November that revealed sweeping corruption in the sector.

President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered two ministers to resign over the corruption scheme and sanctioned a former business partner who was named as its mastermind.

Germany has vowed to keep supporting Ukraine in spite of the scandal, though Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged the country to "energetically advance anti-corruption measures".

The economy ministry on Thursday said that "against the backdrop of recent investigations by Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities", the KfW would "continue to strictly monitor compliance with its regulations".

"Russia is consistently and deliberately attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure in order to turn winter into another weapon," Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in a statement.

"We will not leave the Ukrainian people alone. Protecting energy supplies means protecting people -- that is what this is all about."

Germany has been Ukraine's biggest financial supporter in Europe since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion and has agreed to provide Kyiv with 11.5 billion euros in military aid in 2026.