MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry hopes it will be able to deliver 3,000 tonnes of relief aid to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics within days, Deputy Emergencies Minister Vladimir Stepanov has said.
“We have gathered 3,000 tonnes of top priority cargoes in Rostov. All convoys are there. In accordance with the established procedures we have addressed the Ukrainian leadership and notified the Red Cross we are ready. We hope that if the decision is positive, we shall deliver the cargoes to the recipients within a week,” Stepanov said.
He added that the decision to dispatch humanitarian supplies was made after thousands of messages from Lugansk and Donetsk republic’s residents.
As the cargoes were selected, the needs of socially important facilities, such as hospitals, schools and child-care centres, as well as power generating facilities’ demand for fuel were taken into account above all.
A convoy of 100 trucks with humanitarian aid for the southeast of Ukraine arrived in the Rostov Region last night. The vehicles are carrying building materials, floods, medical formulas, and also items crucial for preparations for the low temperature winter season. Earlier, the Emergencies Ministry airlifted to Rostov about 100 tonnes of relief aid supplies, which is to be reloaded to trucks.
This is a fourth Russian humanitarian convoy for Ukraine’s southeast. The first three brought to Donetsk and Lugansk a total of 6,000 tonnes of foods, including cereals and canned foods, and also medical supplies, electricity generators, warm clothing, and bottled drinking water.