Mediterranea Saving Humans is taking part in the "Stop the war now" caravan that left Italy for the Ukrainian cities of Odessa and Mykolaiv. Around 150 activists from dozens of Italian associations, divided into 30 vehicles (vans and minibuses), transported over 20 tonnes of humanitarian aid for the Ukrainian population hit by the Russian army's bombs. Among the aid transported were 30 generators, including a 200 KW generator for a children's hospital.
Mediterranea has been present in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and since August 2022, with the project Med Care for Ukraine, in the Lviv region, it has been providing basic medical care, medicines and humanitarian aid to a pool of almost 2,000 people divided between refugee camps and informal reception centres. "The caravan is meant to be an important political signal from the Italian association," explains Denny Castiglione of Mediterranea Saving Humans. "We are going to an area of the country where there is a lack of drinking water, which is a primary good, and a few kilometres away you can hear artillery fire. The Italian association has a constant presence in Ukraine with volunteers, doctors and nurses, thanks also to the network of partners it has built up in the area, from the secular to the Catholic world. We will also try to go to Kherson, if the security conditions are right," stresses Castiglione, "the situation in the city is very tense due to the proximity of Russian troops.
Unfortunately, after a year of war in Ukraine, nothing has changed; on the contrary, the living conditions of the population have worsened and, above all, there is no prospect of peace on the horizon. Meanwhile, the Russian army continues to occupy several regions of the country and is constantly attacking others, which are starving and crippled by the energy crisis. We are used to being at sea, coming to the aid of those fleeing war, famine and climate change, but since the invasion of Ukraine began we have decided to be here too, because here too there are people fleeing the destruction caused by Putin's aggression.
Unfortunately, the Europe of states, itself conditioned by nationalism and sovereigntism, has not made any bold diplomatic initiative for peace in the past year. The European institutions have shown no autonomous political capacity, while here are people who have lost everything'. The "Stop the war now" caravan, with the presence of various realities from the Catholic and secular world, will remain in Ukraine until 4th April, stopping in various cities such as Odessa and Mykolaiv, and also trying to enter Kherson.
