THE FIRST OF four convoys of Irish ambulances and recovery and transport vehicles will arrive in Poland today before they are donated to Ukraine.

Operation Carousel involves 30 Defence Forces vehicles, led by the Defence Forces Transport Corps, travelling to the to the International Donor Coordination Cell in Rzeszów, Poland.

This is part of Ireland’s European Peace Facility contribution.

54 personnel are included in the operation, which will see four convoys of vehicles arriving in Poland over the next month. The vehicles are part of Ireland’s non-lethal aid to the Ukrainian Armed Forces

It comes following Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In a statement ahead of the convoy’s arrival, Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin said Ireland still strongly supports Ukraine.

“Ireland remains steadfast in support for the people of Ukraine following the illegal and immoral invasion by Russia and we will continue to provide what support we can as Ukraine defends itself against ongoing aggression,” he said.

The donation of these ambulances and transport vehicles is a practical and concrete measure to show that support and is fully consistent with our position of providing non-lethal aid.

The donation came about following consultation with the EU in March. The planned donation in full consists of:

• Ford Ranger x 20
• Scania 8X8 DROPs x 4
• Iveco 8X8 DROPs x 3
• Iveco 8X8 Recovery Vehicle x 1
• Mercedes Sprinter Ambulances x 2

The convoys travel first by ferry to Dunkirk, before going through Belgium, Germany and on to Poland.

The Department of Defence said that an application for partial reimbursement will be made for the vehicles will be made via the European Peace Facility (EPF) in the coming weeks once delivery is completed.

Continued support

The war in Ukraine has entered its third year, with no signs of letting up. As the war has continued, Ukraine’s main supporters have come under increasing domestic political pressure.

G7 leaders agreed at a summit in Italy yesterday on a new $50 billion (€46.5 billion) loan for Ukraine using profits from frozen Russian assets, a US official said.

“We have political agreement at the highest levels for this deal,” a senior Biden administration official said on condition of anonymity.

“And it is $50 billion this year that will be committed to Ukraine.”

US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan yesterday began two days of summit talks in Puglia, southern Italy.

Increasing support for Ukraine – now in the third year of its war with Russia – was top of the agenda, with President Volodymyr Zelensky joining for a special session.

Russia now controls around 18% of Ukrainian territory, including part of the southern Kherson region, which Russian claimed to have annexed nearly two years ago. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war so far.

With reporting from AFP