The native Inuit population in the Canadian arctic has sent more than three-hundred-thousand US dollars-worth of aid to native Chukchis in the Russian arctic, who are said to be suffering food and fuel shortages.

Blankets, medicine, clothing and food were flown to the far north-eastern town of Anadyr to be distributed to remote areas by helicopter.

Many of the estimated eighty-five-thousand Chukchis, who live in an area the size of France, are nomads who herd reindeer.

The main Canadian Inuit group The Inuit Circumpolar Conference said it was concerned about the effects on the Chukchis of the Russian economic crisis.