Ukraine deploys 70 firefighters to France under EU Civil Protection Mechanism, first time Ukraine has assisted an EU member state through the program
Ukraine has sent 70 firefighters and 15 vehicles to France to fight wildfires, its first mission assisting an EU state under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, per Kyiv Post and RBC-Ukraine. Lithuania is sending 40 officers and 9 vehicles. About 5,000 people are fighting the fire
Ukraine has deployed 70 firefighters and rescuers along with 15 specialized emergency vehicles to France to help fight wildfires burning amid record heat, under a mission ordered by President Volodymyr Zelensky through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Kyiv Post and RBC-Ukraine report this is the first time Ukraine has sent aid to an EU member state through that mechanism, rather than receiving it, since Russia's invasion in 2022. Lithuania is also deploying a 40-officer contingent, including 32 firefighters, a command group, and 9 specialized vehicles such as five fire engines, to southern France, according to Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT. Romania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and Turkey have separately sent firefighting aircraft, helicopters, or ground crews. Around 5,000 people are already fighting the fires inside France, and one blaze in the southwest has been described as four times the size of Paris, according to NPR. Roughly 330,000 people have been evacuated across France and Spain combined during this wildfire season. The deployment marks a shift in Ukraine's role within European civil protection. A country that has spent more than three years as the primary recipient of EU emergency assistance is now, for the first time, sending its own responders to help an EU member state handle a domestic crisis.