Ukraine too helping Slovenia in the aftermath of devastating floods

Ukraine has supplied five excavators and 14 other vehicles with crews to be used in the Upper Savinja Valley, the government says on its website.

Prime Minister Robert Golob will meet representatives of the Ukrainian civil protection in the convoy today, Golob's office said.

"Ukraine provides humanitarian aid to Slovenia in response to severe floods. I signed a relevant decree yesterday. We help our friends even as we fight a war at home. Solidarity works both ways" Zelensky wrote.

The country had previously sent a helicopter to Slovenia to help with the search and rescue operations.

Zelensky expressed condolences to Slovenia in the face of the floods on Sunday and Golob thanked him for the words of solidarity and support.

Ukraine announced on Monday it would send help. "The Ukrainian side will, in line with its capabilities, support its friends and partners that find themselves in trouble, just as Slovenia is supporting the Ukrainian nation and helping us divert Russian aggression," Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, wrote on social media.

Heavy machinery with crews also came from Germany, Slovakia, Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina today. Hungary has also offered further assistance.

Germany sent two modular bridges and a team for their erection. A convoy of 27 vehicles and a unit of 45 members of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief started erecting a temporary modular bridge in Prevalje so as to connect the area inhabited by several hundred people with the rest of the country, the civil protection said.

Six excavators from Bosnia-Herzegovina are also on their way to the Upper Savinja Valley. Four excavators with a team from Slovakia are helping out in the Rečica ob Savinji area.

Teams from Croatia, France, Germany and Austria are also helping out with heavy machinery in the Savinja Valley, President Nataša Pirc Musar said on X.

Two modular bridges and a team, two excavators and 15 other vehicles have also arrived from Italy and are helping out in Škofja Loka, the president said.

State secretary in the office of the Hungarian prime minister Zoltán Kovács said on X that Hungary was offering a 22-strong diving team equipped with all-terrain vehicles and boats, six pumps with operational staff, two excavators, two garbage trucks, two technical experts, sandbags and various flood protection equipment. "The aid will be sent when Slovenia accepts it," he added.

Assistance to Slovenia has so far been offered by Spain, Czechia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, the US, Israel and the EU, according to the government's website.