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BERLIN, March 5, 2014 (AFP) – Germany’s military will fly around 50 Ukrainians injured during unrest in central Kiev to the EU country for treatment, officials said Wednesday.

The move follows a request by the Ukrainian government to the German embassy in Kiev for help with the group, the defence ministry said in a statement.

“It’s a question of people injured in the past weeks following the unrest on the Maidan (Kiev’s central Independence Square), not from the Crimea peninsula,” it said.

Independence Square became the epicentre of anti-government protests sparked when pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych ditched a deal with the European Union in favour of closer ties with Russia.

The German military, together with a team of doctors, will first assess the injured in Kiev and prepare them for travel to Germany, it added.

The patients will be taken to hospitals depending on the type of injury and available capacity.

The German military has also sent two unarmed observers to Ukraine as part of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission, the ministry said.

Fifteen countries are taking part in the mission, a diplomatic source told AFP.