30,000 in Kiev march in support of Rumanians (12/31/89)

30,000 in Kiev march in support of Rumanians

MOSCOW - Thirty thousand people demonstrated in Kiev, capital of Ukraine, on Sunday, December 24, in support of the Rumanian people's struggle for freedom, reported Agence France Presse, citing sources in Moscow.

AFP noted that demonstrators marched through the streets of Kiev and observed a moment of silence for victims of the bloodshed that followed the overthrow of Nicolae Ceausescu.

Anatoliy Dotsenko of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union in Moscow said that a message of support was sent by the demonstrators to the new provisional government in Rumania.

In related news, TASS reported that a train loaded with medical and emergency supplies was waiting at the border between the Moldavian SSR and Rumania, and that a government committee in Kishinev, capital of Moldavia, had sent a message of support to the Rumanian National Salvation Committee, which has announced an interim government until free elections can be held.

ALP also reported that in Kirovohrad, Ukraine, the public had donated 120 liters of blood for the wounded in Rumania. Authorities were still trying to work out the logistics of shipping the blood to Rumania.