KIEV, August 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian security forces will ensure safety of the Russian humanitarian relief convoy passage, spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Andrei Lysenko told a briefing on Wednesday.

He gave no further details of ensuring security of the convoy.

Meanwhile, head of the Kharkiv region administration Igor Baluta said the Russian “humanitarian convoy” would cross the Ukrainian border at the Pletnevka locality in the Volchansk district where the relief supplies would be reloaded to Ukrainian vehicles.

“The cargo in the presence of customs officials and border guard officers with proper documentation issuing will be reloaded on 10 Ukrainian trucks and with police escort will be transported to the destination as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) cargo,” Baluga said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier said that the idea to reload the whole humanitarian cargo after its inspection in the border into Ukraine’s vehicles had been rejected during negotiations. He added that Ukrainian number plates will be given to the Russian trucks for their movement in Ukraine’s territory. The Russian foreign minister said humanitarian aid was urgently needed in east Ukraine as Luhansk was left without water and electricity and local hospitals were short of “basic medicines.” The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has also stated its readiness to support the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Appointed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov earlier wrote on Facebook that the Russian “humanitarian convoy” would not be allowed to pass through the Kharkiv region.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s truck convoy with relief supplies for the residents of the war-torn southeast of Ukraine set out early on Tuesday. The convoy comprises 280 trucks that will deliver humanitarian aid supplies, collected by residents of Moscow and the Moscow region. The total weight of the supplies, including food products, baby food, medicines and drinking water, is 2,000 tonnes.

The Russian truck convoy is currently in Voronezh where it made a stopover for refuelling and rest.