The Belgian Development Cooperation Minister Caroline Gennez wants to send a B-FAST emergency response team to the Ukrainian region of Kherson after Rusian troops destroyed the Kakhovka dam, an idea that B-FAST views as “impossible.”
A spokesperson for the emergency response team told VRT NWS that “it is legally prohibited to send a B-FAST team to armed conflict zones.”
Nonetheless, Gennez told VRT’s Radio 1 that the Belgian Government will discuss on Friday whether to send an emergency team to Kherson, with B-FAST having been “very operational” in aiding the flooded regions of Italy and the earthquake-struck parts of Turkey.
In any case, the Belgian Government is preparing a €200,000 aid package for the Ukrainian region, which could include electrical generators, tents and hygiene equipment.
However, Gennez hopes that her proposal will answer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's recent calls for further aid. "It is true that Ukraine asked for help after the dam burst, including high-capacity pumps to evacuate water," which B-FAST possesses according to its spokesperson.
In an interview with German media, the leader criticised the perceived lack of help Ukraine has received after the Russian military destroyed the major dam in the occupied region of Kherson.
"The United Nations and Red Cross representatives are not here," Zelenskyy stated, before calling for “bodies to be (in Kherson) to save human lives."
