Donetsk, Apr 21 - DAN. Mariupol administration head Konstantin Ivaschenko said that social tensions were gradually decreasing in liberated city areas thanks to relief supplies delivered to residents.
“We’ve set up 11 centres that provide assistance to the population, and five or six more such centers will appear in new liberated areas,” Ivaschenko told the Donetsk News Agency. "Social tensions where these centers operate have slightly decreased.”
“We handed out up to 7,000 food kits per person on certain days in the “Metro” area (former shopping mall which accommodates the humanitarian aid centre sponsored by the “United Russia” Party - eds Donetsk News Agency),” he said adding that more than ten mobile volunteer groups work in the city. They pass foodstuffs to residents in the most deprived and dangerous areas.
“Some said that volunteers from Ukraine and Baltic states bring relief supplies here... No, don’t believe anyone; there is no such thing. Only humanitarian missions from Russia and the Donetsk People’s Republic work here,” Ivaschenko said.
Mariupol is the largest city on the Sea of Azov coast, a key Donbass metallurgy centre and seaport. Clashes for Mariupol began on February 25; the city was fully blocked in the course of the fighting. The mopping up operation against the Ukrainian gunmen in the city is nearing completion. On March 31, DPR Head Denis Pushilin ordered to set up the Mariupol administration. He appointed former Mariupol City Council deputy Konstantin Ivaschenko as its head on April 6. *jk