President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree on Feb. 7 ordering to send humanitarian aid to Turkey to help “overcome the consequences” of a devastating earthquake.
Two powerful quakes at magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.5 struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6. The earthquakes have killed at least 3,432 people in Turkey, according to the country's disaster agency. In neighboring Syria, over 1,602 people have been killed, CNN reported.
Earlier on Feb. 6, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine might send several dozen emergency workers to Turkey to assist in clearing the rubble. Kuleba added that this amount of Ukrainian rescue personnel will permit Ukraine to aid Turkey without “harming the capabilities of rescue services in Ukraine.”
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko reported they had found six Ukrainians who couldn't be reached following the earthquake.
“Their condition is satisfactory, and there are no threats to life,” Nikolenko wrote on Facebook. “Some of the citizens' houses were destroyed. They currently live with Turkish relatives,” he added.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has received 27 requests from Ukrainians who cannot get in touch with their relatives in Turkey, according to Nikolenko.
