UAE sends 30 tonnes of emergency medical and relief aid to Ukraine

Supplies handed over to Ukrainian authorities in Poland from where they will be sent to people in need

Helena, right, and her brother Bodia, from Lviv, wait at the Medyka border crossing in eastern Poland. AFP

A brother and sister share a bowl of soup after they and their mother fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine and crossed the border at Medyka, Poland. Reuters

Nadia, a Ukrainian woman, walks around with her baby in a car park in Przemysl, Poland as she waits for help with transport and accommodation. Reuters

A woman searches through donated clothes for useful items after she and her children fled the Russian invasion in Ukraine and crossed the border in Medyka, Poland. Reuters

Oksana, 30, holds a seven-day-old child after arriving by bus at a rendezvous point organised to help Ukrainian refugees with accommodation and transport to different cities in Poland. Reuters

Refugees wait for help in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters

People wait in a Polish car park to help refugees arriving from Ukraine. Reuters

A father kisses his daughter after she, her mother and grandmother fled from the Russian invasion in Ukraine and crossed the border in Medyka, Poland. Reuters

Refugees wait for help in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters

Ukrainian refugees in the town of Maroz near Olsztyn, Poland. EPA

A Ukrainian refugee in the town of Maroz, Poland. EPA

Ukrainian refugees in the town of Maroz, northern Poland. EPA

Hospital employees and volunteers make hundreds of beds to prepare for an influx of Ukrainian refugees in Rzeszow, Poland. AP

Ukrainian refugees who arrived by evening train from Kiev to Warsaw are helped at the Warszawa Wschodnia railway station in the Polish capital. EPA

Ukrainian refugees arrive by train from Kiev at the Warszawa Wschodnia station in Warsaw. EPA

Ukrainian refugees arrive by train from Kiev to Warsaw, Poland. EPA

Ukrainian refugees arrive from the Medyka border crossing in eastern Poland. AFP

A man hugs a child at the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing in Medyka, Poland. Getty

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The UAE has sent a plane carrying 30 tonnes of emergency medical supplies for needy civilians in Ukraine.

The aid was sent on Monday in response to the international humanitarian appeal to support displaced Ukrainians and refugees in neighbouring countries. More than 1.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine to date.

The plane landed in Lublin and the aid was handed over to Ukrainian authorities in Poland from where it will be sent to people in need.

"Sending an aircraft with medical supplies and relief aid is part of the UAE’s commitment to essential humanitarian needs in conflicts involving civilians, especially women and children, and to provide whatever assistance we can in what is a deteriorating humanitarian situation," said Salem Al Kaabi, the UAE‘s ambassador to Ukraine.

He said the UAE was committed to adopting a humanitarian approach that supports emergency response and relief to people in need without discrimination.

"The Embassy of Ukraine in the UAE expresses its sincere gratitude to the leadership and people of the UAE for the humanitarian assistance provided to the people of Ukraine," said Andrii Kozlov, Chargé d'Affaires of Ukraine to the UAE.

"The UAE continues to demonstrate its humanitarian leadership to the world. We are grateful for that and call our Emirati friends not to stop supporting Ukraine in all possible ways."

On March 2, the UAE said it would provide relief aid to affected civilians in Ukraine worth $5 million, in response to an urgent appeal by the United Nations.