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Poland's Rzeszów transformed into aid hub for Ukraine: FT

17.04.2023 09:00
Poland’s southeastern city of Rzeszów has been transformed into an aid hub for Ukraine, the Financial Times has reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (third from left) and Rzeszów Mayor Konrad Fijołek (right) are among those posing for a photo during an awards ceremony at the Polish Prime Ministers Office in Warsaw on April 5, 2023.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (third from left) and Rzeszów Mayor Konrad Fijołek (right) are among those posing for a photo during an awards ceremony at the Polish Prime Minister's Office in Warsaw on April 5, 2023.Photo: Polish Prime Minister's Office/KPRM

The Polish city near the Ukrainian border has become the main gateway for Western allies to ship weapons and humanitarian aid, as well as dispatch wounded soldiers to hospitals around Europe, the newspaper said in an article last week.

It noted that Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport has been used by world leaders on their way to and from Kyiv, including US President Joe Biden, who made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital in February, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky before and after his trip to Washington in December.

With Ukraine turned into a no-fly zone, Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport now doubles as a military facility, with a runway lined with Patriot missile defence systems, according to the Financial Times article, penned by Raphael Minder.

Near the airport, a medical evacuation centre funded by the European Union is dispatching Ukrainian patients to hospitals across Europe and then bringing them home after their treatment, the FT reported.

“It’s not as if all roads must lead to Rzeszów, but many now are and more will,” Poland’s Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk told the paper.

While many Ukrainians who came to the city went on to other places, tens of thousands have settled there, swelling the local population by up to 20 percent, the newspaper said.

Some residents are already thinking about spearheading Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction, it reported.

Earlier this month, Rzeszów and three other Polish cities, Lublin, Przemyśl and Chełm, were honoured by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for their support of Ukraine and its people amid Russia's invasion, Polish state news agency PAP has reported.

Rzeszów Mayor Konrad Fijołek said at the time: "An incredibly moving moment. I and the mayors of the 'frontline cities' of Przemyśl, Chełm and Lublin we were thanked and received decorations from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on behalf of our cities for helping refugees."

Monday is day 418 of Russias war on Ukraine.

(gs)

Source: PAP, ft.com