EU to use €1.4 billion from interest on frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine

BRUSSELS, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The European Union will use €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) taken from interest generated by frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

The money, transferred to the bloc on August 3, came from interest on cash balances, part of Russian central bank assets frozen by the EU in the wake of Moscow's invasion, the Commission added.

"Russia must pay for the destruction it has caused. And we are using the proceeds from the immobilised Russian assets to make sure it does," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in the statement.

"We are making a further €1.4 billion of them available to Ukraine. This will support Ukraine's continued resistance against Russia's illegal war," she added.

($1 = 0.8669 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Andrew Heavens)