US Announces $23Mln in Additional Humanitarian Aid to Ukraine – State Dept.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The State Department said the additional aid will help the efforts of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as other organizations that provide food, clothing and access to medical care in the region.

"Today, Secretary of State John Kerry announced in Kyiv that the United States is providing nearly $23 million in additional US humanitarian assistance to help thousands of vulnerable people affected by the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine," the release stated.

Up to date, the United States has provided Ukraine with more than $135 million in humanitarian assistance, according to the release.

Ukraine has been mired in violence since 2014, when Kiev forces launched a military operation against local militias in the country’s eastern Donbass region. The operation was a response to local residents' refusal to recognize the pro-Western government in Kiev, which came to power earlier in 2014 after what they consider to be a coup.

The conflicting sides reached a ceasefire agreement last February. The truce is generally holding, according to international observers, yet the sides continue to accuse each other of sporadic ceasefire breaches. The confrontation has affected more than 3.1 million people claimed and over 9,000 lives, according to UN estimates.