Thirty Ukrainian children with cancer are on their way to Spain to continue their treatment

Thirty children suffering from different types of cancer are due to arrive with their families at the Torrejón air base in Madrid this Friday afternoon, where they will be welcomed by Spain's Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles. Their arrival will not be publicised, in order to respect their privacy.

Prime minister Pedro Sánchez said yesterday that Russia’s bombardment of hospitals in Ukraine is a “clear violation of human rights” and that these acts should not go unpunished. Spain, together with other countries, is urging the International Criminal Court to investigate Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine.

Sánchez also said that all the logistics for receiving and accommodating refugees in Spain are now in place. The process will be coordinated from Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante, where there were already sizeable Ukrainian communities before the invasion, and these centres will ensure that the refugees’ rights are protected. “While you are with us you will feel at home, and for those who want to work, you can do that,” he said.

He then went on to say: “We all agree that Putin, with what he is doing, is provoking a war against democracy, against the values represented by democracy, the way of living and understanding society, living in freedom, with rights, and not living under an authoritarian regime such as the one he represents in Russia. In this sense we can say that the fight of the Ukrainian people today is Spain and Europe’s fight as well and, I would say, that of most of the world”.