Swiss army provides gloves and blankets to Ukraine

Russia has targeted Ukrainian power plants, severely restricting electricty production. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Switzerland has sent military-issue gloves, socks and blankets to Ukraine to help its population cope with the winter as Russia bombards its energy infrastructure.

The latest consignment of a CHF180 million ($195 million) humanitarian aid package will be delivered in Kyiv in three days’ time.

+ Swiss under pressure to export ammunition to Ukraine

Switzerland has previously sent heaters and generators to the war-torn country.

The 170,000 pairs of gloves, 40,000 socks and 2,000 blankets have been drawn from Swiss military supplies, the government said on Thursday.

Following a visit to Kyiv in October, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis told the media: “You can already feel the cold in Kyiv.”

However, Switzerland refuses to allow other countries to re-export weapons or ammunition to Ukraine, saying this would violate its position of neutrality.

A Swiss parliamentary commission says it is exploring avenues to lift the ban on re-exported Swiss-made ammunition.

This comes against the backdrop of other countries debating how much military hardware they should send to Ukrainian forces fighting Russian invaders.

This week, Germany finally gave permission for the supply of Leopard tanks both from its own stocks and those held by other nations.

Britain and the United States have also committed to sending its largest fighting vehicles to Ukraine.