Switzerland sends humanitarian supplies to Ukraine conflict zone

A convoy of 21 trucks bearing water treatment chemicals has started arriving in the conflict-riven city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. The delivery is part of an ongoing Swiss effort to provide humanitarian aid for people living in the disputed region.

Between April 2015 and October 2018, Switzerland shipped 9,500 tons of relief supplies to the eastern European country, the Swiss government said in a statement. The Swiss Humanitarian Aid unit, which is part of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), has dispatched a total of 130 lorries carrying 2,500 tons of aid. The value of these consignments, which include medical supplies and water treatment chemicals, amounts to CHF 2.7 million. 

Parts of Ukraine have been mired in conflict since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsular in 2014. Tensions have remained high as other areas in the east of the country have vowed to break away from Ukraine to join Russia.

The aluminium sulphate, which began arriving on Monday, will be used to provide safe water for four million people for the next 12 months, the Swiss government said. It is the 10^th such convoy to reach the conflict zone since 2015.

“The deliveries contributed significantly to the fact that no water-borne diseases broke out during this period and that hundreds of lives could be saved thanks to the increase in hospital standards,” the statement read.