Russia sends medical aid to typhoon-hit Philippines

Russia has sent two planes carrying medical aid to the Philippines as the world acts to help the typhoon-ravaged Southeast Asian nation. The Ilyushin-76 planes are carrying doctors, rescuers and psychologists to support relief efforts in the Philippines, said Oleg Voronov, deputy head of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry’s crisis center, according to Ria Novosti. The UN will send $25 million in aid to help the country deal with the aftermath of the typhoon, one of the strongest storms on record, the organization’s head said Monday. On Monday the Philippines declared a state of national calamity. The typhoon hit the central part of the country on Friday last week. According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the typhoon has affected nearly 9.8 million people and displaced an estimated 660,000 people. Local officials say some 10,000 people might have been killed on the hardest-hit Leyte island. (