The United States announced on Sunday it was sending nearly $54 million in new humanitarian aid to Ukraine as it grapples with the Russian invasion.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States is targeting Ukraine’s “urgent humanitarian needs as an important part of our response to Russia’s premeditated, unprovoked and unwarranted attack.”
The assistance, which will be channeled through NGOs, includes “food, drinking water, shelter, emergency medical care, winter preparation and protection,” it added in an official statement on the subject.
According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), since Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, more than 368,000 people have fled to neighboring countries, while more than 160,000 are estimated to be displaced within Ukraine.
Likewise, Blinken indicated that the new assistance includes help for humanitarian organizations to maintain contact between family members who were forced to separate by war and that, “hopefully, in some cases it will lead to reunification.”
The US secretary of state praised countries hosting Ukrainians fleeing war and said the United States is diplomatically committed “to supporting their efforts to keep their borders open and assist those seeking international protection .”
Finally, it was learned that humanitarian aid from the United States to Ukraine amounts to almost 405 million dollars , since Russia invaded the former Soviet republic in 2014 and annexed the Crimean peninsula, according to the statement.