The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, attended yesterday in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) the departure of a new aid convoy to Ukraine, through Poland, consisting of eight light vehicles, two ambulances and five tons of medical material. In addition, another twelve heavy vehicles will be sent by sea in the next few days.
The vehicles and medical equipment have been provided by the Army, the Navy and the UME and have been arranged for transport by the Projection Support Group (GAPRO), the unit which provides logistical support to operations and exercises both on national territory and in operations abroad, according to the Ministry in a press release.
The Minister of Defense was able to observe in situ the work carried out by this unit and to attend the departure of the convoy with the ten vehicles and the medical material, which will take four or five days to reach Poland, where it will be delivered to the Ukrainian authorities. Besides, during the next few days a new shipment of another twelve heavy vehicles will be sent by sea from the port of Bilbao to the port of an allied country close to Ukraine and from there by land to a Polish logistics center.
“These are the priorities that Ukraine has at the moment and this is what they are demanding from us, the war is being very cruel, there are many wounded people and they urgently need medical material,” Robles told the press.
In addition to advancing that another shipment of armament is being prepared for November, the minister referred to the training of Ukrainian soldiers who are currently in Zaragoza. “From November 1, more will arrive, in principle to Zaragoza, but it is possible that they will also arrive to other places”, declared Robles, who will visit the Aragonese capital today to hold “a small meeting with the Ukrainian military and also to visit the wounded who are in the Military Hospital”.
For his part, the head of GAPRO, Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Quesada, detailed the operation and the cargo of the last shipment: “A total of 22 vehicles will be transported, including nine heavy transport trucks, four ambulances, two of them all-terrain and two road ambulances, some 80 tons in vehicles alone”, in addition to the 5,000 kg of medical material. “In principle, the operation is not complicated because it is all transit through the European Union to Poland and once there, the Ukrainian Army will take charge of the material,” he added.
