From WEEKLY NEWS 47/99
Twelve staff from Russian Red Cross
headquarters have left Moscow en route to the North Caucasus to implement
emergency relief programmes in Ingushetia, Dagestan, North Ossetia and
Kabardino Balkaria. The team, headed by veteran aid worker Nikolai Zudilin,
will supervise the distribution of relief supplies which will be trucked
in to alleviate the plight of thousands of displaced persons. Zudilin recently
returned from a preliminary mission to the region where he oversaw the
setting up of internationally-funded relief programmes. These are
even more necessary with a new wave of displaced persons expected to arrive
in the tiny republic from neighbouring Chechnya, where Russian forces have
increased their military activity. "We'll be helping Red Cross volunteers
and staff run soup kitchens, a bakery, distribute clothes and shoes and
run medical posts," Zudilin explained before setting off.
WEEKLY NEWS IS PUBLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL
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E-mail: weeklynews@ifrc.org