Aid for Ukraine being shipped on Tuesday

National guard soldiers are helping volunteers at Limassol port prepare a shipment of humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

The aid is being picked up from the dozens of collection points across the island by the national guard and taken to the warehouse of the Cyprus Ports Authority opposite Limassol port to be loaded on a commercial ship that departs on Tuesday.

The effort, one of the biggest humanitarian drives in Cyprus, is being coordinated by the ports’ authority whose president Antonis Stylianou spoke of an unprecedent mobilization.

“The ports’ authority has undertaken coordinating the management and storage of this material and we are truly happy that we are contributing to humanitarian aid for Ukraine,” he told the Cyprus News Agency.

He thanked the national guard for its contribution and the government for organising the whole initiative and offering a large quantities of basic items in view of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

Assistance includes pharmaceuticals worth €700,000, foodstuffs that are being collected through the 40 collection points islandwide, and civil defence equipment such as tents, sleeping bags and first aid kits.

Added Limassol port master Panayiots Agathocleous: “In cooperation with the national guard and with volunteer services we have undertaken possibly one of the biggest operations involving sending state aid to a third country.”

The humanitarian aid will be loaded on a ship that will transport it to the closest destination, making the rest of the way to Ukraine by road.

Also on Friday, House president Annita Demetriou visited the collection point at Strovolos Municipality where she delivered humanitarian aid on behalf of parliament.