Kyiv, December 30, 2014. Social services on the territories of Donbas controlled by terrorists received the first shipment of 326 tons of humanitarian aid, which was collected from all over Ukraine. Iryna Gerashenko, MP and the President’s envoy for conflict settlement in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, told this during the press-briefing in the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center.
The Ukrainian government succeeded in delivering humanitarian aid to the most unprotected members of society for the first time in 9 months since the occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The aid consisted mainly from food sets: sugar, cereals, vegetables, fruits and sweets. Christmas trees were delivered as well. “We want more than two million people, living in these two regions and who were taken as hostages by the terrorists, to celebrate the New Year with the entire Ukraine despite all hardships that they encounter,” Ms. Gerashenko said.
Three columns of trucks with humanitarian aid arrived to Pavlograd, Kramatorsk and Severodonetsk. It was then reloaded to cars for a direct delivery to a number of social services. These included boarding schools for orphans, family-type orphanages, regional retirement houses for military veterans and veterans of labor, neurological clinics and mental hospitals on the territories occupied by terrorists.
Herashenko emphasisied that the delivery occurred under conditions of safe and direct delivery of humanitarian aid. She confirmed that 69 tons of aid were distributed in the Luhansk region. Frontline settlement in the Donetsk region received 130 tons as well. “The Ukrainian government pledges to distribute the whole aid until the end of 2014,” Gerashenko said.
The President’s envoy thanked governors of the Donetsk and Luhansk regional administrations, Mr. Oleksandr Kikhtenko and Mr. Hennadiy Moskal for helping with delivering the humanitarian aid. Herashenko highlighted that the Ukrainian authorities will not finance terrorism and separatism in Donbas under any circumstances.
