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Donbas waits for relief aid from Russia

“The convoy is expected to advance to the Russian-Ukrainian border this morning", - Oleg Voronov, the deputy head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry National Crisis Management Center said

MOSCOW, November 30 /TASS/. A relief convoy formed in Russia’s southern Rostov region is ready to leave for the conflict-hit Ukraine’s Donbas region, Oleg Voronov, the deputy head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry National Crisis Management Center, told TASS on Sunday.

“The convoy is expected to advance to the Russian-Ukrainian border this morning. It will head for Donbas after the customs formalities,” Voronov said adding that more than a hundred trucks would deliver more than 1,200 tonnes of relief aid to Donbas.

The relief cargo includes food, including canned meat, fish and milk; building materials such as glass and rubberoid to restore the damaged buildings and materials for maintaining the operation of Donbas’s life-support facilities.

The truck drivers who are going to deliver the relief aid have undergone a special course of driving in extreme conditions and are ready to fulfill the humanitarian mission.

“All the trucks are ready for the mission. All the vehicles have undergone technical maintenance. All of them are in order. They have been filled with fuel. No emergencies or unforeseen situations are expected to emerge on the way,” Voronov said.

“This is the eighth relief convoy for Donbas. It started to be formed long in advance. Trucks from various parts of the country kept bringing various relief cargoes at the Donskoy rescue center from the Rostov, Voronezh, Tula, Ivanovo and Moscow regions for several days. About 60 trucks arrived from the Noginsk rescue center of the Russian Emergencies Ministry,” Voronov stressed.

Since mid-August, seven truck convoys have delivered almost 9,500 tonnes of cargoes, predominantly food, building materials and medical supplies, to Donbas.

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