Warehouse Filled With Tons Of Humanitarian Aid Found In Ukraine; Items 'Not Distributed'

Ukrainian authorities discovered a large warehouse filled with truckloads of undistributed humanitarian aid of unknown origin in the country's Lviv region.

Detectives with the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine (ESBU) found food, including 74 tons of canned food worth $500,000, in the warehouse, Kyiv Post reported.

According to ESBU's Territorial Department in Lviv region, detectives also discovered clothes, household chemicals, bed linen and children's goods in the 1,600-square-meter warehouse.

"Now we are [investigating] how these goods got to the territory of Ukraine, why they were not distributed and we are checking information about the possible sale of humanitarian aid," Valeriy Tatsienko, the acting head of the Territorial Department in Lviv, said in a statement.

Authorities assessed that humanitarian items inside the warehouse could fill around 60 trucks.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

The announcement came after a European Union official expressed concern over potential appropriation by lobbyists or corrupt government officials of E.U. funds earmarked for Ukraine.

Dimitrios Papadimoulis, the Greek vice president of the European Parliament and the head of the Syriza Delegation, told The Brussels Times that he doubts Ukraine relief funds are going to the people who need support.

"I am very much worried about that money [from the E.U.] going to E.U. officials or lobbyists or Ukrainian officials," Papadimoulis said.

"I have a lot of doubts if the money and the support [are] going to places and the people who want or need that support. [I am worried] that part of it goes to other places and to other pockets," the European Parliament official added.

Papadimoulis cited a recent corruption scandal involving purchases of overpriced military supplies by senior members of the Ukrainian government, which led to the resignation or dismissal of four deputy ministers and five governors.

Data from the European Commission showed that the E.U. has mobilized around $74 billion in humanitarian, economic and military assistance to embattled Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion more than a year ago.

The U.S. leads the list of countries that provided assistance to Ukraine, with more than $71.3 billion worth of aid commitments, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

However, the Kiel Institute noted a decline in new aid pledged to Ukraine this year. A total of $14.2 billion were committed to Ukraine between Jan. 16 to Feb. 24, and most of the donors were Scandinavian countries, such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

In February, the United Nations said it would need $5.6 billion to provide humanitarian aid in Ukraine.

"Almost a year on, the war continues to cause death, destruction and displacement daily, and on a staggering scale," said Martin Griffiths, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 17.6 million Ukrainians require humanitarian assistance this year.

This includes 6.3 million internally displaced people, 4.4 million returnees and 6.9 million people who have remained in their homes throughout the Russian-led war.