ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani planes loaded with emergency relief supplies arrived in Poland late Thursday night, en route Ukraine, the Pakistan Embassy in Poland has said.
Pakistan despatched the consignment of humanitarian aid to Ukraine as Russian forces continued to press in on Kyiv, amid one of the worst refugee crises in Europe since the World War II.
Pakistan Air Force aircraft carrying humanitarian assistance for Ukraine from Pakistan arrives at Lublin Airport, Poland, on March 17, 2022. (Photo courtesy: @PakinPoland_/Twitter)
“Second C-130 carrying humanitarian assistance for Ukraine has arrived at Lublin Airport, Poland. Pakistan Embassy in Poland is handing over relief cargo to Polish Government Strategic Reserve Agency,” Pakistan’s embassy in Poland said in tweet.
Early this week, Pakistan’s federal cabinet approved aid of about Rs60 million ($335,000) as an "expression of solidarity" with the Ukrainian people.
Islamabad has found itself in a precarious situation since the beginning of the Russian invasion as President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to attack Ukraine the day Prime Minister Imran Khan was visiting Moscow.
Pakistan is also one of the few countries in the world that has not condemned Russia for invading Ukraine.
The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia visited Kyiv in an act of solidarity, while the White House announced US President Joe Biden would attend summits of the EU and NATO next week.
But tensions were mounting as Russia broadened its assault across Ukraine with a huge strike on an airport. Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko said the curfew was in response to an impending "dangerous moment".
Nearly three weeks into Russia's invasion of its pro-Western neighbour, more than three million have fled to neighbouring countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
