Photo: VOA | Wikimedia
An elite Ukrainian rescue unit of 87 men and women and eight dogs was sent by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to southwest Turkey, hit hard by its largest earthquake ever. Pre-earthquake, Antakya had a population of around 400,000 people. Many tourists visited, and hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled here. Coordinating with the Turkish planning team, the Ukrainians pulled survivors out of the rubble, recovered the dead and put out fires. They were welcomed -- children fill their pockets with pistachios, volunteers bring lentil soup and Syrians set out orange lemonade - and happy to help the Turks, who make the Bayraktar combat drone. There is much tragedy here. Ismail, who brought his four children here from Syria in 2016 for safety, lost his wife, two daughters, sister and mother. But there are miracles, too. Eight and a half days on, the Ukrainians rescued a woman in the centre of the town.
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