Key aid provider says it can’t operate in rebel-held Ukraine

MOSCOW / AP

The largest provider of humanitarian aid in rebel-held eastern Ukraine said on Wednesday that it has suspended its operations there. The charity foundation run by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov has been distributing food and other supplies to residents in the rebel-controlled east, where most of the international aid organizations have no access.
Akhmetov’s foundation said in a statement on Wednesday that its work in the region has been paralyzed after rebels blocked access to Akhmetov’s Shakhtar FC arena in the rebel capital Donetsk, which hosted the 2012 European football championships and now serves as a warehouse for the relief effort. Efforts to block the foundation’s access to its facilities in Donetsk “is a threat to the lives of Donbass civilians who became hostages of the armed conflict and found themselves on the verge of survival in the heart of Europe in the 21st century.” The foundation says it has given away more than 11 million food packages to local residents.
More than 9,800 people have been killed in fighting between Russia-backed separatists and government troops since 2014.