Seven States Receive Russian Humanitarian Aid in 2017 - Emergencies Ministry

A spokesperson for the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik that seven countries had received Russian humanitarian assistance since the beginning of this year.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A total of seven countries have received Russian humanitarian assistance since the beginning of this year, a spokesperson for the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik on Saturday.

"Since the beginning of the year the humanitarian aid in the form of food and essentials totaling over 11,500 tonnes has been delivered to seven states," the spokesperson said.

The ministry added that Russia was also providing humanitarian aid to Donbass residents.

"Since August 2014, the Russian Emergencies Ministry has been delivering humanitarian cargoes to the residents of southeastern Ukraine. A total of 67 convoys, which delivered about 70,000 tonnes of humanitarian cargoes, have been sent to Donbass since that time," the spokesperson said.

According to the spokesman, projects on humanitarian assistance to Cuba, Jordan, Tunisia and Cameroon are also being actively implemented. The projects, in particular, include training of skilled personnel in the field of prevention and elimination of emergencies, supplies of laboratory equipment, training complexes, equipment, technical means of training.

August 19 marks the World Humanitarian Day established by the United Nations in 2008 with the aim to attract public attention to the millions of people living in war zones, as well as to pay tribute to aid workers killed in service.