The Ukrainian Retailers Association (RAU) has echoed the call by the country's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, for the skies to be closed over Ukraine, saying that 'every hour of open skies' leads to more casualties and more infrastructure being destroyed.
In a letter addressed to a number of world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Olaf Scholtz and NATO secretary Jens Stoltenberg, the RAU called on governments to 'act immediately' and implement a no-fly zone over the country.
'Constant Airstrikes'
'The constant airstrikes and cynical use of banned bombs and missiles in the world are aimed at maximising the number of victims and destroying Ukraine's infrastructure,' the group said.
'Strategically important facilities are being destroyed, access to many logistics centres and warehouses with food and medicine has been blocked, and hundreds of shops providing food to the population have been hit.'
Western governments have to date ruled out the possibility of closing the skies over Ukraine, amid the risk of escalating the conflict even further.
At the weekend, President Zelensky warned NATO about the likelihood of one of its member states being attacked by Russia in the near future, after an air strike hit a military base close to the Polish border.
The RAU is providing regular updates on the opening hours of Ukrainian retail groups such as ATB, Silpo, Varus, Novus, Auchan and others via its website.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
