The European Union (EU) announced on Friday an additional aid of €25 million to help demining areas in Ukraine that were temporarily under the control of the Russian armed forces.
In a communiqué, EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell indicated that “a huge amount of mines and other explosives are found in areas liberated by the Ukrainian forces”, and the bloc moved forward with a budget “up to EUR 25 million to support for mine clearance” in the areas concerned.
The additional funding – announced as part of the EU-Ukraine summit, to be held today in Kyiv in the presence of European Council Presidents Charles Michel and European Commission Presidents Ursula von der Leyen – will help mine essential equipment and strengthen the capacity of Ukrainian authorities to deal with large-scale contamination caused by mines and explosive remnants in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the statement said.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.9 million to European countries -, according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
Currently, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending arms to Ukraine and impose political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN presented 7,031 dead civilians and 11,327 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
