Polish aid package to Ukraine robbed?
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
11.09.2014 08:53
An investigation has been launched after it emerged that thousands of items from a Polish aid package sent to Ukraine by the ministry of defence never reached their destination.
Humanitarian aid is distributed in eastern Ukraine. Photo: EPA/Anatoly Maltsev
About 1500 blankets and a similar number of mattresses were reported missing by a Polish officer who supervised the unloading of the items in Ukraine.
“If a crime occurred, then it most likely happened on Polish territory,” commented Colonel Ryszard Filipowicz, a spokesman of the Military Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw.
Minister of Defence Tomasz Siemoniak described the incident as a “theft”on his Twitter profile on Wednesday afternoon.
He revealed that the commander of the air base that dispatched the goods had been suspended.
“The missing things have been sent to Ukraine,” he added.
Ceasefire holding
Meanwhile, the ceasefire between Ukrainian national forces and Russian-backed separatists appeared to be holding out in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday.
President Petro Poroshenko claimed that Russia had withdrawn most of its troops from the region.
“According to the latest information I have received from our intelligence, 70 per cent of Russian troops have been moved back across the border,” Poroshenko said.
“This further strengthens our hope that the peace initiatives have good prospects.”
He said that a bill providing the region with greater autonomy would be brought before parliament next week. (nh)
Source: IAR/TVN