MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. More than 10,500 tons of humanitarian aid has been prepared for Ukraine and the first convoys are already waiting to hit the road, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Center for Defense Management, said at a news conference.

"Convoys with humanitarian cargoes have been formed to provide assistance to the population of Ukraine," he said. "These are food, building materials and basic necessities."

"The federal government together with the Russian regions have already prepared more than 10,500 tons of humanitarian cargo," he went on to say. "Work in this area has been very intensive."

A humanitarian aid convoy from Crimea has already reached population centers in southern Ukraine, Mizintsev said. The other regions that are assembling humanitarian convoys include the Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov regions, he said.

The Russian armed forces, if Ukraine is willing to create a humanitarian corridor for civilians, will ensure its security, the general said.

"As soon as we receive information from any population center that the Ukrainian authorities are ready to create a humanitarian corridor and ensure an unhindered exit for the civilian population, we will provide 100% assurance of security for exit both to Russia and to other countries, whatever groups of people or individual citizens will request.".