The Donbass received the first batch of aid from Pope Francis, which included potbelly stoves, fuel briquettes, baby food, food and medicine.
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It is reported by the Air Force.
The humanitarian action “Pope for Ukraine” was launched by the Vatican back in April. During a service in St. Peter's Square in Rome, Pope Francis announced a collection of aid for people who have suffered from war or become internally displaced in eastern Ukraine. Later, the papal representative spoke about the same program during his visit to Donbass, in particular to Mariupol.
It is reported that aid was collected from Catholic churches in Europe. The Pope donated 5 million euros on his own behalf. A total of 12 million euros were collected. The first tranche of 6 million was transferred to Ukraine in December.
As the organizers of the action said, this money is intended for all people, regardless of their religious, confessional or ethnic affiliation in the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk regions.
The Pontifical Council Cor Unum has selected 60 organizations for which assistance will be provided. These are Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic parishes, volunteers, Protestant churches and secular public organizations. Agreements are signed with them.
“The first few projects have already received funding. In Krasnogorovka we purchased food, water, electric stoves, potbelly stoves, fuel briquettes, and installed solid fuel boilers in our houses. Houses in Marinka were glazed. Food and baby food were delivered to frontline villages in the “gray” zone. With the money collected by the Pope, we purchased clothes, shoes and medicine for displaced people, pensioners, and disabled people who were most affected by the conflict - the villages of Vinogradnoye, Sopino, Primorskoye, Sartona, Talakovka. Fuel and electric heaters were purchased for the displaced, and the checkpoint in Stanytsia Luhanska was equipped with a heating point,” the message says.