The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, visited yesterday in Poland the main logistic centre for the distribution of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, through which Spain has carried out more than 30 logistic transports of armament and material and more than a dozen humanitarian flights for the transfer of more than 600 vulnerable people.
During the visit, in which she was accompanied by the Spanish ambassadors to Poland and Ukraine, Ramiro Fernandez and Ricardo Lopez-Aranda, respectively, Robles could check in situ the operation of the center and talk with the Spanish military who coordinate the national deliveries in this logistic center, according to the Ministry in a press release.
On her arrival at the logistics center, Robles was received by the head of the Polish Armed Forces Support Inspectorate, Brigadier General Artur Kepcynski. The Minister was accompanied by the Secretary General for Defense Policy, Admiral Juan Francisco Martínez Núñez. Robles also attended a presentation on the logistics hub and held a meeting with representatives of the other nations involved. Before returning, she met with civilian airport staff.
“Ukraine has to win this unjust and cruel war and I think one of the most important things right now is our unity, how our countries are united working together to fight Putin. Our unity is our strength,” the minister stated. “Spain is fully committed to Ukraine and fully committed to Poland and to NATO. This is a war to defend our values, our principles and democracy,” she added.
Since Poland established this hub, the Ministry of Defense has managed more than 30 logistic transports of armament and material to this center, which has been a point of entry and exit for military flights, road convoys or multimodal transport of Spanish supplies by sea.
The airport visited yesterday has also been the departure point for more than 600 people, including orphaned children or children undergoing oncology treatment, especially vulnerable or threatened family members and military personnel wounded in combat, for their reception in Spain or their treatment in the Defense Hospitals and the health network. To support these transfers, 14 other humanitarian flights of the Ministry of Defense have been managed so far. In the coming weeks it is planned to intensify these flight operations, as the Spanish contribution to the training of Ukrainian military personnel, organized both by bilateral agreement and contributing to the new EUMAM mission of the European Union, will begin.
