VOLGOGRAD, March 03. /ITAR-TASS/. A campaign of collecting humanitarian cargoes for Sevastopol and other cities and settlements in Crimea has been in full swing in the Russian city of Volgograd, which is a twin city of Sevastopol.

The first batch of the humanitarian cargo, which contains foodstuffs, medications and essentials, will be sent to Ukraine by rail already this week, Volgograd Governor Sergei Bozhenov told journalists on Monday. He spoke at a round table devoted to the situation in Ukraine in which public activists, veterans and representatives of regional ethnic and Cossack organizations took part.

The governor reminded of the battle of Stalingrad in WWII which played a crucial role in the defeat of the "brown plague". "Today, we hear our veterans expressing their protests, anger and appeals to stop fascism in Ukraine," the governor said.

Chief of the Volgograd city administration Irina Guseva reminded of a twin city agreement that Sevastopol and Volgograd signed on November 19, 2013. "The two cities had planned many joint military patriotic campaigns, but today, mischief befell Ukraine. The friendly, multinational country has been compelled to live under orders dictated from abroad. They have asked us for help, and we will give it to them by all means," Guseva said.

On Monday morning a first train bound for Sevastopol with a humanitarian cargo on board collected by bikers of the Night Wolves Club had left Moscow, a representative of the club told participants who burst into applause. They have unanimously approved a proposal by WWII veteran Yevgeny Rogov who suggested convening a thousand-strong meeting in support to Ukraine's anti-extremist forces at Mamayev Kurgan WWII memorial on March 4.