"When we realized the extent of the natural disaster in Western Ukraine, we worked with Euro-Asia and the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem to allocate a special budget for emergency assistance. A budget of half a million hryvnia ($20,000) dollars for the purchase of basic equipment," said Israel Ambassador to Ukraine Joel Lion.
As an initial donation, the embassy sent thousands of water bottles to to flood victims in the Chernivitski and the Ivano-Frankivsk in the western region of Ukraine. However, this is only the first the first step. The bottled water is the first stage of aid that Israel provided to casualties. Later this week, tents and hundreds of sleeping bags will also be provided.
Israel joined the efforts of the Ukrainian government and other countries to provide humanitarian aid to victims of the natural disaster that has been called the most difficult in a century.
Torrential rains in Ukraine have killed three people, forced hundreds to flee from their homes and cut off villages in western regions, authorities said on last week.While many were trying to guard their property, about 800 people had been evacuated since the rains began on earlier that week, said Interior Minister Arsen Avakov who was visiting the disaster zone with Shmygal.
"The situation in five regions is critical, the Ivano-Frankivsk region suffered most. The last such flood was in 2008," Shmygal told reporters.Reuter contributed to this report.