Civilians in East Ukraine Live Without Proper Medical Care - Russian UN Envoy

Civilians in southeast Ukraine continue to live under a blockade and are deprived of proper medical care, Russian Mission to the United Nations Charge d'affairs Petr Iliichev told the UN Security Council on Thursday.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — He added that Russia continues to provide large-scale assistance to people in the region and noted that calls by humanitarian groups and human rights organizations to stop the blockade have not changed Ukraine’s policy.

"As a result of the blockade imposed by Kiev over the last three years, civilians in the region don’t have access to the necessary medical assistance and drugs," Iliichev stated.

"A recent report of the Secretary-General on the protection of civilians in this context rightly draws attention to the fact that Kiev introduced a complete trade ban with the south-east of Ukraine, including the provision of medical supplies."

Iliichev called on Ukraine to stop the blockade and other restrictions. Rights groups have stressed that they hurt the most vulnerable people, he noted.

On March 17, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko implemented the National Security and Defense Council’s decision to several all transportation connections with the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) until a ceasefire was fully established in the region. Poroshenko also made provisions to return control of enterprises from DPR and LPR authorities back to Ukraine.