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Abbas Ganbay

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When the war started in Ukraine, Azerbaijan did not spare humanitarian aid in the most difficult moments. On the third day of the war alone, more than 137 tons of humanitarian aid left Baku for Ukraine.
Because Azerbaijan not only knows the consequences of the war, but also knows what the side suffering from the war needs.

Ukraine and Azerbaijan have extensive and multifaceted friendly relations, which have been strengthened in the course of a long history of interaction, as well as based on similar values and strategic interests. The two countries, located in different parts of Europe and Transcaucasia, have managed to establish close ties in various fields, from politics and economy to culture and human contacts.

Another humanitarian aid for Ukraine was sent from the territory of Sumgayit Technological Park with 20 large cargoes, which includes 551 thousand meters of electric cables and wires, as well as six sets of transformers.

Diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Azerbaijan have strong roots. Both countries actively support each other in the international arena, cooperating within the framework of various international organizations and exchanging mutual support on key issues.

To date, Azerbaijan has sent more than 2,000 tons of humanitarian cargo to Ukraine, including medicines, medical equipment, and foodstuffs. Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Azerbaijan has provided 10 cargoes of humanitarian aid to restore the country's energy system. It included 50 reserve power plants and 45 power transformers. The total amount of aid provided by Azerbaijan for Ukraine, including funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction, amounted to more than $33 million.

It is important to note that Azerbaijan's assistance to Ukraine and its people is carried out in different directions. In addition to assistance in electrical and medical equipment, Azerbaijan, at the initiative of the Social Services Agency under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, helps Ukrainian children who suffered from war and lost members of their families. In total, more than 150 children have been sent to Azerbaijan, where they undergo rehabilitation in special camps in Baku, Shamakhi, Gabala, and Shaki. The fresh air and mesmerizing nature of these places were specially selected for maximum assistance to the affected children.

With the help of individual consultations, group therapy, training, as well as master classes conducted by professional psychologists, children are recovering from their injuries, their emotional state has stabilized, and as a consequence, children have been able to integrate into society.

Azerbaijan also assisted in Ukraine to cope with the disaster after the Kakhovskaya HPP dam was blown up, where inflatable boats, life jackets, food, protective suits, pumps, and high-pressure motor pumps were sent as soon as possible. SOCAR Company also provided 20 tons of fuel for equipment and transport to eliminate the consequences of the disaster.

Azerbaijan, as a country fighting Armenian mine terror in the liberated territories and having great experience in its elimination, provided Ukrainian sappers and rescuers with a robotized machine of its own production for demining "RevivalP", where training sessions for Ukrainian specialists in demining were also held. Azerbaijan has also previously sent to Ukraine similar demining machines MEMATT developed by Turkish company ASFAT. These machines have a strong strength to detonate not less than 8 kg of TNT and can be controlled at a distance of up to 5 km. Turkiye also sent 20 units of MEMATT vehicles for the demining of the liberated territories of Azerbaijan Garabagh.

The humanitarian lyceum "Linguist" named after Zarifa Aliyeva, which was destroyed as a result of military actions in the city of Irpin, has also been fully restored. Currently, the Azerbaijani side is carrying out relevant work to restore several seriously damaged social facilities.

It is also worth recalling the goodwill and strong spirit of the Azerbaijani people living in Ukraine, who did not remain indifferent to the Ukrainian losses. Many actions are taken to help the needy in different cities of Ukraine, from evacuation from shelling zones to delivery of humanitarian aid. At the beginning of the first month of 2024 UkrAZfront charity fund sponsored by Azerbaijani merchants held 5 charity actions in the Kharkiv region. Besides the delivery of humanitarian aid, the volunteers of this action organized the evacuation of civilians of Kharkiv under intensive shelling.

There is a lot of pain and suffering in the world because of the consequences of wars, and despite this, there are brave, kind, sympathetic people who are ready to help people at the cost of their lives. In such difficult times for countries that are at war, it is important to support and help friendly countries based on humane goals, instead of supplying expensive weapons.

UkrAZfront Charitable Foundation also continues to help children from the Kharkiv region suffering from cerebral palsy and epilepsy, where they were provided with medicines and food. It is important to note that children from a number of settlements in this region, who need special care, since September 2023 are under the special care of UkrAZfront. Volunteers of this fund, despite the shelling and air raids, held a charity event in the frontline Izyum district. Residents of Izyum City and Oskol Village received 300 food packages, which included canned fish and meat, porridge, different types of cereals, oil, pasta, and hygiene products.

Volunteers also did not forget about pets and animals and sent to the animal shelter in Kharkiv more than one ton of food, veterinary materials, and medicine. Recall that after Kherson was flooded as a result of the Kakhovskaya HPP explosion in June 2023, UkrAZfront rescued dozens of animals from the scene. Subsequently, the rescued dogs, cats and other types of animals were placed in this shelter and received veterinary care.

Western European countries, which claim to be committed to "democracy", the protection of human rights and freedoms, found it necessary to help Ukraine by supplying it with a huge number of lethal weapons. By supplying weapons to Ukraine, Western European countries think to solve the conflict militarily in order to inflict a crushing defeat on Russia. France also came to similar decisions and decided to "help" to solve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan by supplying weapons to Yerevan, which as a consequence led to the deterioration of relations between Baku and Paris.

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Abbas Ganbay is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @Noend33

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