Since the beginning of the war, Ukrzaliznytsia has transported more than 100,000 tonnes of humanitarian cargo by rail in passenger, freight cars and containers, Oleksandr Kamyshin, the head of the company’s board, said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
“Volunteers came to the first evacuation trains, which we used to transport our citizens from the east to the west, and brought humanitarian aid. Food, clothes, medicines. They loaded all this into passenger cars and the trains rushed back to the east,” he wrote.
Thus, in passenger cars, according to him, since the beginning of the war, transported more than 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid. There were days when 700 tonnes of humanitarian aid per day were transported in passenger cars.
“And then we brought humanitarian aid in freight wagons and containers. And our foreign partners have already joined here, first of all from Poland, and then from other countries. And as of today, we have already transported more than 5,000 freight wagons with humanitarian aid. Since the beginning of the war, we have transported over 100,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid by rail in passenger, freight wagons and containers,” Kamyshin said.
Ukrainian volunteers are faced with the problem of bringing humanitarian aid into the country, representatives of volunteer organizations have said during a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
“Now there are enough donors on the territory of the European Union who are interested in providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but they need the Ukrainian side to take it. Because of this, Ukrainian public organizations refuse humanitarian aid or transfer it to other organizations, as they cannot cover the cost logistics component of the delivery,” Head of the Ukrainian Exporters Club Yevhenia Lytvynova said.
Commenting on the transfer of thermal imagers and quadrocopters to Ukraine, she noted that such goods require a letter of guarantee from the end user, the author of which can only be a military command body of the Ministry of Defense or another military formation.
In turn, Head of the International Technology Transfer Association (ITTA) Artem Honcharenko said that the Ukrainian army today needs medicines, in particular hemostatic drugs, as well as drugs against ulcers, diarrhea, dysbacteriosis, and a runny nose.
He stressed that there is currently a strong demand for anthelmintic drugs, flea, tick, mosquito and antifungal drugs. In addition, the Ukrainian army requires basic medicines such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, as well as syringes, bandages and elastic bandages.
In turn, Director of the Center of the Academy of Construction of Ukraine Ivan Perehinets announced plans to create an international fund Ukraine to finance the construction of houses for people who lost their homes due to the Russian invasion.
“More than a million families were left without housing… We are now in the process of registering the Ukraine International Construction Fund, which will deal with the construction of houses,” Perehinets said.
In turn, Head of the International Relations Department of Kontramarka Help Oleksiy Honcharov announced plans to purchase a mobile field hospital.
“We are currently working on a mobile hospital that can drive close enough to the front line, deploy in a matter of minutes and provide full first aid,” Honcharov said.
According to him, such a field hospital was found in Turkey and funds are being collected for its subsequent purchase. The hospital is partly financed by charitable contributions from concerts held, most organized with the support of Kontramarka.
President of the Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils Serhiy Chernov said that on February 15, based on information from foreign colleagues and Ukrainian intelligence, the association decided to create a coordination center to assist local governments in providing humanitarian assistance, studying all possible consequences of hostilities, and working with religious denominations and preparation of documents “on the destruction caused by the Russian Federation, as well as compensation for losses.”
Restaurateur and volunteer Maryan Burmylo announced cooperation with the United States. “Ukrainian volunteers from California organized charitable assistance to medical institutions in Ukraine. Odesa residents Natalia Hryschenko and Oleksiy Buyadzhy (UkrainCA public initiative), with the help of the Mission to Ukraine team, arranged the supply of medicines at the expense of American funds of Cincinnati and Baltimore – sister cities of Ukrainian Kharkiv and Odesa. Aid in the form of the supply of surgical kits is provided by the International Surgical Health Initiative (ISHI, the USA),” he said.
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Over the past week, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine received 73 tonnes of medical supplies as humanitarian aid from charitable organizations, the press service of the Ministry of Health reported on Monday.
It is specified that over the past week, 16 tonnes of analgesics, 1.5 tonnes of antibacterial drugs, 16.5 tonnes of cancer drugs, 30 tonnes of dressings and other medical products, 8.5 tonnes of medicines for various purposes and 500 kg of corticosteroids have been received from various donors and charitable organizations.
In addition, charities donated five ambulances, 100 refrigerators, eight telemedicine systems, 10,700 personal first aid kits, 2,000 hemostatic agents to stop bleeding, 22,000 bandages and 8,500 tourniquets.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, in a phone conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, discussed the threats to Ukraine, the right to self-defense and the importance of humanitarian assistance from Israel.
“Had a phone conversation with Minister of Defence of Israel Benny Gantz. We discussed existential threats to Ukraine and the right to self-defense. Among other things, the importance of humanitarian aid from Israel’s side has been discussed. Thank you for the support!” Reznikov said on his Twitter.
The European Union is allocating an additional €50 million in humanitarian aid to support Ukrainians in need, according to the EU Humanitarian Projects Office.
“The EU is allocating another 50 million euros in humanitarian assistance to support Ukrainians in need. This new funding will provide emergency medical services, safe drinking water, shelters, cash assistance, support in the fight against gender-based violence,” reads a statement published in Sunday on twitter.
Later, the head of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas, specified that the new aid package from the EU would be aimed at meeting the most pressing humanitarian needs.
The British Ferrexpo plc, which controls in Ukraine, in particular, the Poltava and Yeristovo mining and processing plants (PGOK and EGOK), together with international partners, will intensify the provision of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine within the framework of the Group’s Humanitarian Fund.
According to a press release from the company on Tuesday, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is creating a serious humanitarian crisis within the country. The Group continues to provide assistance through the Fund, which includes the implementation of individual projects ranging from $10,000 to more than $1 million.
At the same time, it is specified that support is provided both to communities located directly next to the territory of the industrial activity of the group, and in other regions of Ukraine. So far, Ferrexpo has provided housing and assistance to more than 1,400 refugees displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Among the main projects implemented are the following: provision of temporary housing for internally displaced persons, namely, the provision of rollaway beds, blankets, installation of lighting and the purchase of batteries to charge phones, as well as computer equipment for local authorities coordinating refugee assistance. Also providing fire brigades with radios, satellite phones and protective equipment for search and rescue in communities directly affected by the invasion, the purchase of batteries for cars and batteries for remote charging of mobile phones for public organizations responsible for helping residents of communities.
In addition, medical supplies are supplied to local hospitals from international suppliers.
Ferrexpo notes that the company’s international business partners, including suppliers, customers and contractors, quickly responded and responded to the call to help Ukraine. A number of the group’s partners have already provided direct humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, in particular, food, medicine, baby food and other household goods. The companies also provide financial support to communities living near the territory of the industrial activity of the group.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jim North in his comment noted that the situation in Ukraine is very difficult and continues to deteriorate and Russia continues to invade Ukraine, which leads to a massive resettlement of people to the west of Ukraine, further from the conflict zones. The support of international organizations is indispensable, and every effort is made to provide direct assistance or to coordinate it where possible.
“We are proud and grateful for the response from our business partners who provided funding to meet the humanitarian needs of Ukraine, in particular, goods and services to the population of Ukraine, provided direct support to projects in the region where we operate. We thank our partners for they responded to Ukraine’s request for help, which is vital today for those affected by the Russian invasion,” North was quoted in a press release.
At the same time, he added that the safety of workers in Ukraine remains Ferrexpo’s number one priority: “I would like to thank our colleagues for their support during these times, as well as for helping to ensure the humanitarian needs of the country.”
Ferrexpo is an iron ore company with assets in Ukraine. Ferrexpo owns 100% of the shares of Poltava GOK, 100% of Eristovsky GOK and 99.9% of Belanovsky GOK.
