86 convoys with humanitarian aid were sent to Donbas by Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center over the year of its operation. Infographics

A year ago the first convoy with humanitarian aid from Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center was sent to Donbas.  During this period the Humanitarian Center sent 86 convoys for local civilians and displaced persons in Donetsk and Luhansk regions on both sides of the contact line. Over the year they delivered 57,500 tons of food.

The first convoy of 60 trucks, which started from Dnipropetrovsk for Mariupol on August 22, 2014, was delivering food for adults, children packages and personal hygiene products. Since that time the Humanitarian Center's help to Donbas has become regular, every month it is provided to 500,000 people. 

There are two logistic warehouses of the Humanitarian Center functioning in Mariupol and Donetsk at Donbas Arena, they accept humanitarian aid 2-4 times a week and form survival kits. The kits are taken from Donetsk to 32 fixed issuing points in 17 towns of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in non-government-controlled areas. The humanitarian aid from Mariupol is taken to more than 70 issuing points on the peaceful territory of Donbas for IDPs and local residents on the contact line. Also the mobile teams of Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center deliver humanitarian aid to remote villages across Donetsk region, which helps to support the maximum number of people in the areas, where it is not possible to open a fixed distribution point.

Over the year the mechanisms of humanitarian aid delivery changed several times, the cargo was stopped on the contact line by volunteer battalions, the convoys had to be stopped due to shelling. For example, the routes to Donetsk were changed three times. The Humanitarian Center has overcome all the obstacles and keeps delivering humanitarian aid. 

"During the year of Humanitarian Aid Drives operation we have passed over 1 million kilometres. The longest travelling time for our trucks was 50 hours, when they could cross the checkpoint from the 9th attempt and deliver humanitarian aid for people in two weeks. Now it takes a convoy, consisting of 10-20 trucks, approximately 15 hours to arrive in Donetsk. In cooperation with international humanitarian missions the Humanitarian Center developed a uniform schedule for crossing the contact line at the checkpoint near Volnovakha. The schedule allows delivering aid up to four times a week and having the required stock of kits in the warehouse. Every month we deliver about 500,000 survival kits for adults and children", – Oleksandr Vyshniakov, the Head of "Humanitarian Aid" direction at Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center, said.

Today, on August 21, 2015, another convoy has started for Donbas. It will deliver 30,000 survival kits for adults.

As of today the volunteers of Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center issued 4,100,000 survival kits for adults and 299,000 children packages on both sides of the contact line.