On Wednesday, 6 December, at a ceremonial reception in the central square of Chernihiv, Riga vice-mayor Edvards Ratnieks, Riga City Council Deputy Ieva Brante and other representatives handed over to the city of Chernihiv 10 public transport buses from company "Rīgas satiksme", together with humanitarian aid that had been donated by the inhabitants of Riga.
Officials and Ukrainians from Chernihiv are grateful for the donated buses and humanitarian aid, as well as for Riga's support to Ukraine since the first day of the war.
Edvards Ratnieks, vice-mayor of Riga: "The Riga City Council has been supporting Ukraine from the first day of the war and will continue to do so in the future, continuing to provide both moral and material support This time, Riga contributed 10 buses along with humanitarian aid. The buses will help Chernihiv inhabitants to take their children to schools and kindergartens and to transfer inhabitants, while the humanitarian aid will help both schools and the inhabitants I am very pleased that we were able to work together during Patriots' Week, with the support of the inhabitants of Riga, to raise humanitarian aid to fill these buses. We would like to thank all the volunteers who helped, the municipal company "Rīgas satiksme", which found the possibility to donate buses, Ziedot.lv and the association "Palīdzēsim viens otram", which took part in the charity campaign. We hope that soon Chernihiv will rebuild its city and Ukraine will win the war!"
Chernihiv region is a Latvian aid region in Ukraine, located north of Kiev and sharing borders with Belarus and Russia. A large part of Chernihiv region has been under Russian occupation for a month. The damage caused by the aggressor country is so severe that it will take many years and a lot of resources for Chernihiv to recover.
Riga has so far sent a total of 31 public transport buses to Ukraine. 21 of them ended up in Kyiv. Since the beginning of the war, Riga City Council and its capital companies have been actively supporting Ukraine and its civilians by donating vehicles, medical supplies and money for the necessary items.
Information prepared by: Edīte Matuseviča, Project Coordinator at External Communication Department of the Riga City Council, email: edite.matusevica@riga.lv
