Romania approves EUR 3 million aid for Ukraine, joins EU in blocking Russian state-owned media

The Romanian Government approved another aid for Ukraine amounting to EUR 3 million, according to an announcement on Sunday, February 27. Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked Romania for its support in a Twitter message.

It consists of fuels, bulletproof vests, combat helmets, ammunition and military equipment, food, water, and medicines, Government spokesperson Dan Cărbunaru said.

It comes after a first tranche of medicines and sanitary equipment was donated to Ukraine. The first transport of humanitarian aid collected together with the civil society and businesses left for Ukraine on the evening of February 27, the Government announced.

At the same time, Romania said it was ready to receive Ukrainian casualties in its network of hospitals.

On February 28, the Government announcedRomania was also blocking the broadcast of Russia Today, as well as the websites of RT and Sputnik, in addition to several others it said were spreading fake news in the context of the Ukraine crisis. It follows EC president Ursula von der Leyen's announcementon Sunday that the EU would impose a ban on Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, as part of a package of sanctions against Russia.

Over the weekend, Romania closed its airspace to Russian airlines and said it was pulling out of the International Investment Bank.

Between February 24 and the morning of February 28 (6:00), 70,803 Ukrainian citizens entered the country, according to data presented by the Government spokesperson, and 37,490 left Romania. Of the more than 33,000 Ukrainian citizens currently in the country, 373 requested asylum.

Two camps were set up at border crossing points with Ukraine, one in Sighet, the other in Siret, from where refugees can depart to various accommodation venues, as directed by the immigration inspectorate. At the Siret border crossing point, which has seen the highest number of people arriving from Ukraine, ambulances of the emergency rescue service SMURD were dispatched to bring in faster the vulnerable categories from those queueing to enter the country.