The convoy departed from Veneto, for the monthly mission that Mediterranea regularly guarantees to support the civilian population affected by Russian attacks and the inhabitants of refugee camps. In December this year we reached the thirteenth rotation of medical teams, consisting of doctors, nurses and psychologists, who together with our translators ensure basic medical care for 1400 people between the refugee camps of Sykhiv, Naukova and Striskji Park and dozens of informal reception places in the city of Lviv. The December humanitarian aid mission delivered basic necessities to multiple places in the conflict reaching as far as Kiev. The first stop in the city of Lviv saw the distribution of humanitarian aid to refugee camps, where the situation is getting worse and worse. As our last missions were able to record throughout Ukraine there is a general worsening of living conditions, both in civilian homes and in the refugee camps.

Nine million Ukrainians have no electricity, and in Lviv the time slot in which electricity is guaranteed has fallen from eight hours in November to four hours in December.

Added to this are the winter temperatures, which in December reached 18 degrees below zero.

During our last mission, a total of four power generators were delivered, in order to be able to guarantee power continuity during blackouts. The Lviv municipality is building a new citadel for refugees next to the current refugee camp in the Sykhiv district. These are containers which, unlike those currently installed in the camps, have an indoor toilet. This will allow, once completed, the camp residents to be able to wash themselves without having to leave the containers and cross the camp in the snow to reach the shower modules. Between November and December, our medical teams showed an exponential increase in cold-related illnesses, such as flu, colds, bronchitis and pneumonia.

The second stop of the Mediterranea Saving Humans mission was in Kiev, where our activists returned after first reaching the Ukrainian capital last May.

Living conditions in Kiev are extremely precarious and harsh, even more so than in the western part of the country. There is a lack of electricity for much of the day, the generators in public buildings cannot guarantee a continuous supply of power because they would risk melting down due to too many hours of operation. There is a lack of running water for many hours a day, and what comes back is brown, not drinkable. A water drama that has been unfolding in the country in recent months, after the Russian bombardment also affected the water network. For the first time since the beginning of the conflict, there are heavy disruptions to the internet network, which works in parts.

All of which clearly describe how the deteriorating living conditions of Ukrainians are worsening dramatically and how the Russian attacks are affecting the civilian population in a violent and barbaric manner. In Kiev, our activists brought humanitarian aid to our partners in the NGO Insight at their office in Kiev. The headquarters of the LGBTQIA+ community rights organisation is located next to a building that was destroyed by Russian bombing.

Our delegation also participated in a meeting at the Italian Embassy in Kiev with Deputy Head of Mission Francesco Pesce. Finally, on 22 December, Mediterranea took part, as an official invitee, in the ceremony for the appointment of the new bishop of Donetsk Fr Maksim Ryabukha of the Salesians, who through the Don Bosco Centre in Lviv are partners in the Med Care for Ukraine project. Don Maksim was given one of Mediterranea Saving Humans' cribs depicting the nativity on board the ship "Mare Jonio", made for Mediterranea by the users of the "Lavori in Corso" mental health centre in Naples, as part of the "Ubuntu" project. Throughout the mission, our delegation had to deal with continuous air-raid alerts that could last up to several hours, due to the intensification of Russian attacks. A dramatic situation that represents the everyday life of the Ukrainian civilian population.