The convoy departed on Wednesday to deliver "sanitary packages, water purification tablets, industrial and domestic desiccants," power generators and food to Ukrainians in distress, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Moreover, the supply vehicles will remain in Ukraine to help bring drinking water to people affected by flooding from last month’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine’s embattled southern Kherson region, Gdańsk officials said.
Photo: Gdańsk City Hall
Polish Cities for Ukraine
The humanitarian assistance has been organised as part of an ongoing inter-city project called Polish Cities for Ukraine, the PAP news agency reported.
It follows from the Declaration on Cooperation in Ensuring the Security of Residents and Restoring Peace in Europe, signed by the mayors of various Polish and Ukrainian cities in Kyiv last November, according to officials.
Photo: Gdańsk City Hall
‘Supporting Ukraine is a marathon’
Gdańsk Deputy Mayor Piotr Grzelak, who leads the Polish Cities for Ukraine task force, told reporters: “As we’ve said on numerous occasions, supporting Ukraine is a marathon … systematic support provided on many fronts. The blowing up of the Kakhovka dam has shown the direct impact of military operations on the functioning of cities, which consequently have to deal with flooding, lack of water and lack of access to drinking water.”
Grzelak added: “We are donating supply vehicles to help municipal agencies function and repair the facilities that can still be rescued.”
Ukraine’s Consul General in Gdańsk, Oleksandr Plodystyi, said: “The blowing up of the Kakhovka dam [by invading Russian forces] has left more than a million Ukrainians without access to drinking water. That’s why this immediate assistance is indispensable and we are very grateful for it.”
Photo: Gdańsk City Hall
The supply vehicles have been provided by authorities in Gdańsk and the western Polish city of Poznań, the PAP news agency reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Thursday is day 505 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, dziennikbaltycki.pl, gdansk.pl