Brazil sends 11.6 tons of humanitarian aid to Poland

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A Brazilian Air Force airplane left on Monday, March 7, for Poland with 11.6 tons of humanitarian aid donated by the government of Jair Bolsonaro to alleviate the situation of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.

The aircraft, a KC-390 Millennium, departed from the Brasilia Air Base with a cargo of dehydrated food, medical equipment, water purifiers, and solar energy panels, among other items that will be delivered to those responsible for the care of refugees in Poland, as reported by the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.

Before take-off, there was a brief ceremony led by the Minister of Defense, General Walter Braga Netto, who assured that the government is determined to assist all Brazilians who wish to leave the conflict zone and that none of them will be “left behind”.

The plane will arrive in Warsaw on Wednesday, March 9, and return the same day with about 70 citizens, both Brazilians and of other nationalities, who were residing in Ukraine and have managed to escape to Poland after the Russian military operation.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos França, who is on an official visit to Portugal on Monday, plans to continue his trip to Warsaw and return to Brazil on the same plane that will take the citizens rescued from the war.

According to consular authorities, by the time the Russian operation began, about 500 Brazilians were residing in Ukraine, of whom more than a hundred had already managed to leave the country.

According to the latest data from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), at least 1.73 million people have already fled Ukraine.