Lithuania treats injured Ukrainian soldiers amid conflict in east

  • 2014-09-15
  • From wire reports, VILNIUS

(photo: AFP/Scanpix via delfi.lv)

Thirteen injured Ukrainian soldiers have been brought to Lithuania for medical treatment.

The injured soldiers who were flown fro Dnipropetrovsk on September 14 will be treated in Vilnius and Kaunas, the defense ministry says. They had been fighting pro Russia rebels in the east of the country.

"Tonight we have brought soldiers wounded in Eastern Ukraine and transferred them to civilian medical care institutions for ultimate treatment. The most of them are in satisfactory medical conditions, several are wounded more seriously, however, we expect that Lithuania's hospitals will do their best in helping the military," senior military medic Lieutenant Colonel Gintaras Berkevicius said.

The treatment of the soldiers will be funded from the reserve of the Lithuanian's Government allocated for medical care of the injured in the conflict in Ukraine this February. The funding totals 43,500 euros.

Lithuania has been one of the more direct voices during the crisis in the Ukraine, with calls for arming Ukraine's military.

Ukraine's defense minister said on Sunday that NATO countries were delivering weapons to his country to equip it to fight pro-Russian separatists and "stop" Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports.