Crimea to Send Humanitarian Aid to Crisis-Hit Donbass

YALTA (Sputnik) —Crimea will support the crisis-hit regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine by sending humanitarian aid and allowing children from the regions to spend holidays on the peninsula, Crimea head Sergei Aksyonov said Saturday.

The Crimean peninsula seceded from Ukraine and became part of Russia after more than 96 percent of local voters supported the move in a referendum in March 2014.

"Since the beginning of hostilities the public organizations of the [Crimean] peninsula have sent to the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics more than 380 tons of humanitarian aid. On June 10, another 22 tons will be sent to the regions," Aksyonov said, speaking at a forum in Crimea's city of Yalta.

Crimea's head stressed that the peninsula has already provided asylum and helped thousands of Ukrainian refugees. It also gives children from crisis-torn regions the opportunity to spend holidays on its territory.

The region of Donbass in Ukraine's southeast has been suffering from a humanitarian crisis since an armed conflict erupted in the region between Kiev-led forces and Lugansk and Donetsk independence supporters in April 2014.

The crisis was aggravated when Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko imposed an economic blockade on the region in November 2014, leading to the withdrawal of all state-funded health, educational and social support from Donbass.

Overall, Moscow has delivered more than 35,000 metric tons of aid to Donbass since August 2014 in a series of 28 convoys sent by Russia to provide humanitarian relief to the conflict-hit region.