One tonne of medical material donated by the Czech Foreign Ministry and designed for Ukraine's Red Cross has reached Kiev on Friday evening, and further medical aid will leave the Czech Republic for Ukraine in the days to come, announced the ministry.
The material will be used by Ukrainian medical staff to treat acute burns and other serious wounds civilians suffered in eastern Ukraine. The ministry will soon buy artificial ventilation machines for the hospitals in the east Ukrainian towns Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkov and another consignment of medical material will also be dispatched soon.
Czech Republic also prepares to provide aid for the Ukrainians who have been forced to leave their homes over the conflict in eastern Ukraine via the Czech embassy in Kiev and in cooperation with the UNHCR mission in Kiev.
"It is our duty to help, where lives and health are at stake. The (Czech) aid also includes the lorry that has reached Kiev fully loaded with medical material," said Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek. "As soon as the situation enables it, the Czech Republic will be ready to assist in the renewal of schools and medical facilities," he said.
Within the state-run Medevac program, Czech provided medical treatment for about 40 Ukrainians who were wounded during the protests in Kiev, and the Czech government has earmarked 50 million crowns (about 2.4 million U.S. dollars) in aid of Ukraine in this year. (1 U.S. dollar = 21 crowns)