Massive Shipment of Humanitarian Aid from Greece Headed to Ukraine

A massive shipment of humanitarian aid from Greece, the fourth such package sent in the wake of the war, was shipped to Odessa, Ukraine on Tuesday. The last time Greece sent an aid package to the war-torn country was on April 3rd, when Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias visited Ukraine.

The package contains essential supplies for survival in the incredibly difficult and dangerous conditions that have prevailed in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in late February.

Some of the supplies sent in the Greek humanitarian shipment to Ukraine, which weighs 50 tons, include bottled water, stores of non-perishable food items, medical supplies, such as antiseptic and medications, and three generators.

Greece sends humanitarian aid weighing 50 tons to Ukraine

Many people across the country are currently living without basic necessities such as food, water, power, and heating. The Greek Foreign Ministry, the Region of Attica, the Hellenic Red Cross, Doctors of the World Greece, and the Greek supermarket chain Sklavenitis collaborated with the Boubouras Foundation to create and send the shipment of essentials to Ukraine.

The shipment will be accompanied by Alexandros Diakopoulos, an official from the Foreign Ministry who is responsible for such humanitarian assistance, to the port city of Odessa.

Odessa played important role in Greek history

The beautiful southern city of Odessa was named after an ancient Greek city called Odessos and played an important role in the history of modern Greece. It was in the Ukrainian city that the Greek War of Independence was conceived and planned in the nineteenth century.

In the home of Greek businessman and national benefactor, Grigorios Maraslis (1831-1907), who was mayor of Odessa between 1878 and 1895, the founders of the Filiki Eteria (Φιλική Εταιρία), or the Society of Friends as otherwise called—including members Emmanuil Xanthos, Athanasios Tsakalov and Nikolaos Skoufas—vowed to revolt against the Ottomans who had ruled Greece for almost 400 years.

The Filiki Eteria, founded in Odessa on September 14, 1814, played a crucial role in the uprising which led to the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire which began on March 25, 1821.