This handout picture taken and released by the National Police of Ukraine on March 9, 2022, shows damaged buildings of a children鈥檚 hospital, destroyed cars, and debris on the ground following a Russian airstrike in the southeastern city of Mariupol. 鈥� International leaders and Ukraine accused Russia of a 鈥渂arbaric鈥� attack on the hospital, as civilians continued to bear the brunt of the conflict two weeks into Moscow鈥檚 invasion. (Photo by Handout / National Police of Ukraine / AFP)
MADRID 鈥� Spain on Friday took in 25 Ukrainian children with cancer who will be able to continue their treatment after it was halted by Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, the government said.
鈥淎 defense ministry flight has just landed carrying 25 Ukrainian children with cancer and their families, so they will be able to continue their treatment in Spain,鈥� the government wrote on Twitter.
The military plane, which landed at an airfield in Madrid, was also carrying 鈥渁nother 22 displaced鈥� Ukrainians who will be taken in by Spain, the defence ministry said, also on Twitter.
The children 鈥渨ill be treated in public hospitals specialising in treating child cancers,鈥� said the Spanish Federation of Parents of Children with Cancer, which sponsored the children鈥檚 arrival in Spain alongside the Spanish Society for Paediatric Haematology and Oncology.
The federation said it was hoping to be able to bring more child cancer patients from Ukraine 鈥渋n the coming days鈥� along with their families who would be treated at hospitals in Barcelona, Valencia and Andalusia.
鈥淭hese children need urgent medical care but also long-term treatment鈥� we will offer all of our resources to these youngsters,鈥� said its spokeswoman Carmen Menendez.
More than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia began its military offensive against the country on February 24, the United Nations said on Friday.
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