Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Kornichuk today (Tuesday) expressed disappointment with the Israeli Interior Ministry’s decision not to allow Ukrainian refugees to come to Israel from Poland or Hungary.
“Dozens of Ukrainian citizens have been sent back from Ben Gurion Airport to the countries from which they have arrived in recent days. “Thousands of Ukrainian Righteous Among the Nations saved Jews in the Holocaust,” Kornichuk said at a news conference. Asking for a guarantee of 10,000 or 20,000 shekels is very difficult. We ask for your help. They do not come to work here, they are fleeing the war. “
Kornichuk noted that Belarusian troops had entered Ukrainian territory this morning, so they are now part of the Russian invasion. He added that the city of Kharkov was hit today as a result of a Russian bombing, and that there are a large number of dead and wounded. “There has been no such thing since World War II,” he said. He added that this invasion united the Ukrainians more than ever. “We are one nation. All our politicians work as a team. Our army is active and our president is in charge.” He noted that the democratic world is united alongside Ukraine and they provide the Ukrainian people with weapons, equipment and food.
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The ambassador said that his country Ukraine had requested medical and military assistance from Israel, and thanked for the decision to transfer humanitarian aid to the country. “We have given Israel a specific list of additional medical equipment we need like antibiotics and we hope they will provide that as well. In any case, thank you for what we have done so far,” he said. He also said that the Ukrainians had asked the Israeli Foreign Ministry to provide medical care to wounded soldiers and civilians through a field hospital or treatments in Israel.
“Helmets and vests are very important to us. They are sold out in warehouses of European countries. We asked Israel for such protective equipment. Not only for the army – but [גם] Police, firefighters and medical staff. Everyone needs helmets and vests, “he said. He added that President Vladimir Zalansky had asked Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to supply weapons to Ukraine.” We need defensive weapons. I can not comment beyond that about what weapons and how many weapons we need. We hope that Israel will behave like the rest of the world and help us with weapons as well. “
Apart from these, the ambassador noted that Ukraine also asked Israel to stop broadcasting the “propaganda channels” of the Russian government in Israel. “I raised several issues with the Prime Minister’s Office. I hope that Israel will seriously consider our requests.”
Regarding the death of the Israeli Roman Brodecki, who was killed in the Kyiv region, the ambassador said that “we do not know how the Israeli citizen was killed. We are further investigating this matter. We care about Israeli citizens and we help them cross the border into other countries.