An ambulance helicopter of the Interior Ministry has begun work in Chernitvsi region, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said, adding that the helicopter is equipped to transport people ill with infectious diseases.

"In Chernivtsi region, an ambulance helicopter of the Interior Ministry began working around the clock to transport infectious patients. For a flight, it can transport 4-6 patients up to 1,200 km. If the situation worsens and hospitals are overloaded, the region will take advantage of this!" Avakov said on Twitter on Thursday.

The Interior Ministry's Facebook page said on Thursday that a Mi-8 helicopter that participated in UN peacekeeping missions and last worked in the Republic of Mali had been transferred to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on the terms of a gratuitous contract.

The helicopter is equipped with a Bio-bag EBV-30/40 insulating capsule, bioprotective kits, a disinfecting shower, an insulating chamber and a special module in which the capsule is fixed during flight.