Dresden (dpa/sn) – Saxony and its Polish partner province of Lower Silesia have launched a joint aid transport to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. “The war against Ukraine is causing terrible suffering and great deprivation for the population,” said Head of State Oliver Schenk (CDU) in Dresden on Wednesday. “I visited Dnipro myself last summer and got to know a lot of committed people and an impressive city.” Together with Lower Silesia, they wanted to establish tripartite cooperation with Dnipro. At the moment, however, this is being prevented by the Russian attack.

The Saxon part of the relief delivery includes ten pallets of medicines, pharmacy goods and non-perishable food with a total value of 20,000 euros, it said. Half of the goods are intended for the Dnipro region and half for Caritas Dnipro. Caritas set up a nursing service there, funded by the State Chancellery, for seniors who fled the war. The goods are now to be combined with the Lower Silesian aid in Wroc?aw (Breslau) and handed over to the partners from Dnipro at the Polish-Ukrainian border on Thursday night.

Saxony and Lower Silesia have been linked in a partnership since 1999. A Saxon liaison office was opened in Wroc?aw in 2012, and since last year there has also been a Lower Silesian office in Saxony. Since 2002, Lower Silesia has maintained a cooperation with the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk. Among other things, a joint Saxon-Lower Silesian business trip to Dnipro was planned for this year.