WASHINGTON — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is delivering $870,000 of equipment to small bakeries located near the frontline of Ukraine using funding from France.

The WFP said it has collaborated with local food producers to deliver food assistance in frontline regions. Back in September, these small bakeries supplied more than 500,000 loaves of bread, which the WFP and its partners distributed to communities living near the frontline, the organization said. The WFP also said more than 80% of its food assistance in Ukraine is bought from local suppliers.

In total, the WFP said it will deliver more than 60 pieces of machinery to 14 small bakeries in Mykolaiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions. The machinery includes 7 industrial generators, 11 rotary ovens and 6 dough kneading machines. An unspecified number of dough dividers and dough rounders also will be provided, in addition to other similar tools.

“Bread is the lifeblood of Ukrainians- but small bakeries in frontline regions have been struggling to sustain their production due to the war and energy challenges,” said Richard Ragan, country director of the WFP in Ukraine. “By providing additional equipment, we not only support local businesses in the areas most affected by the war, but also make sure that people will have enough fresh bread this winter.”

Other ways the WFP supports Ukrainians affected by the war include providing cash assistance to vulnerable groups across the country, facilitating the export of Ukrainian food products, and safely de-mining and recovering land in the Kharkiv region to help restart agricultural work.