BRUSSELS, April 10. /TASS/. European volunteers making up the first common Western European humanitarian convoy to Donbass will go to the area on April 25, Anna Novikova, leader of the SOS Donbass movement and the organizer of the project, told TASS on Monday.
"Our convoy is setting off for Donbass on April 25. People from Spain, France, Belgium, and Germany were involved in raising money for the campaign," she said. "We are bringing basic necessities for civilians, newborns, babies, schoolchildren, disabled persons, and food for animals. In all, around 80 cubic meters of cargo. The truck was provided by a French volunteer who will drive it. He is an ordinary French farmer who is not indifferent to the fate of the people in Donbass."
"The humanitarian aid will be distributed by the Donbass association we are cooperating with," he noted, adding that the convoy’s route will depend on the situation on the ground. "We have several possible options. We will decide as we go. The goal is to reach Donbass bypassing Ukraine," she said.
According to Novikova, past EU volunteers delivered humanitarian assistance to Donbass from individual countries via Ukraine but such deliveries have been essentially halted due to the high risk of them not reaching their destination. This time, it has been decided to dispatch a common Western European convoy.
Funds were raised on various online platforms in accordance with local EU laws. Thus, in such countries as France, where humanitarian contributions allow for tax privileges, tax credit certificates were issued to the donors.