Two C-130 planes with equipment have left a military airport west of Athens bound for Poland. The first of them is already at Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in Poland, unloading, and the second will arrive later, according to Greece’s Defense Ministry.
“Greece is sending ammunition, Kalashnikov-type assault rifles and missile launchers to Ukraine, a ministry official told the Associated Press following a meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and Chief of the National Defense General Staff General Konstantinos Floros.
“Responding to a request by Ukraine and in consultation with its NATO allies and its EU partners, and showing its solidarity with the suffering Greek people, Greece will send, within the day, defense equipment,” a government statement said.
Two more planes carrying humanitarian aid as blankets and food have also left for Poland.
Meanwhile in Athens, hundreds of Ukrainians gathered in the city center to protest the invasion on Sunday joined by Greek citizens. Rallies were held on Saturday and Sunday outside the Russian Embassy in Athens and the consulate in Thessaloniki.
‘Greece is willing to take a number of people in from Ukraine if needed and will support the Ukrainians directly, with technical and humanitarian help toward Poland and other countries,” Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarakis told Skai TV .
“If we as a country need to take a number of people in, we are willing to do so in collaboration with the European Union. The cost will be covered by Europe.”
“Ukrainians are true refugees… The invasion on Ukraine is a violation of international law and a revisionist stance by Russia, which is condemned by the entire West,” he stated.
On Sunday afternoon, Greece’s Foreign Ministry accepted a request from the Ambassador Frangiskos Kostelenos, dispatched to the Consulate General of Mariupol (Marioupoli), and Consuls General Manolis Androulakis there and Dimitris Dochtsis at Odessa, to evacuate the Kyiv embassy and for embassy personnel in Ukraine to return to Greece “due to the rapid deterioration of the security situation”.
“The departure of the embassy staff, as well as Greek citizens who wish to leave, will take place by road. The consulates general in Mariupol and Odessa will remain in operation until further notice,” the statement continued calling once again upon Russia to respect the rights of citizens of Greek heritage and their safety.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday, saying Greece had favoured the harshest EU sanctions against Russia after its attack and stood ready to provide assistance.
Greece will also support any European Union line on sanctions against Russia, as well as cutting off Moscow from the global SWIFT payments system.
Ukraine’s Foreign Secretary Dmytro Kuleba thanked Greece, the US and NATO, for its steadfast support and the efforts NATO, and EU are making to hold Russia accountable for its actions. The Kulebla and Greece’s Foreign Minister Dendias also condemned Russia’s attacks on civilian targets, with Kulebla expressing his condolences for ethnic Greeks killed in Russia’s brutal assault on Mariupol. So far, 10 Greek civilians have been reported dead among 352 Ukrainian civilians lost during the invasion.
“I had a friendly phone conversation with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over developments in Ukraine. He expressed his condolences for the death of Greek expatriates and I thanked him for his statement on Greek sovereignty over the Aegean islands,” Dendias tweeted after the call.
In further worrying developments Russian President Vladimir Putin put his nuclear forces on increased alert on Sunday, according to AP, in an unprecedented escalation of tensions with the West. Russia’s massive conventional military assault on Ukraine entered its fourth day with fighting in the streets of the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
