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Developments in eastern Ukraine

Russia’s 70 trucks with humanitarian cargo proceed toward Ukraine’s Luhansk

Russia dispatched a convoy of some 270 white-painted Kamaz trucks with humanitarian supplies for the population of the war-torn south-east Ukraine on August 12

© ITAR-TASS/Dmitry Rogulin

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Deliberate delays in humanitarian aid delivery to south-east Ukraine intolerable — FM

DONETSK, August 22. /ITAR-TASS/. A total of 70 trucks from the Russian humanitarian aid convoy cleared border customs, entered the Ukrainian territory and currently proceed in the direction of the embattled Luhansk region in the south-east of the country.

Russia dispatched a convoy of some 270 white-painted Kamaz trucks with humanitarian supplies for the population of the war-torn south-east Ukraine on August 12. The humanitarian supplies include foodstuffs, baby food, medicines and drinking water.

The convoy reached Russia’s southern Rostov region, bordering on Ukraine, on August 17 and until Thursday was idling near the border waiting for the permission to enter Russia’s neighboring country.

The week-long delay in the delivery of the humanitarian cargo was blasted on Friday morning by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which said in its statement that such situation was intolerable.

“We have a strong feeling that the current Ukrainian authorities are intentionally dragging out the delivery of the humanitarian aid to create the situation, when there would be no one left the assistance was intended for,” the ministry’s statement said. “It seems that Kiev set the task of the all-embracing mop-up operation in Lugansk and Donetsk ahead of the [Ukrainian] Independence Day on August 24.”

“The convoy with tons of the much needed humanitarian cargo for people of these regions has been idling for a week on the Russian-Ukrainian border. During this period of time Russia implied unprecedented efforts to settle the necessary formalities in all directions and at all levels possible,” the statement said.

A spokesman for Russia’s southern customs department, Rayan Farukshin, told Itar-Tass that first 34 Kamaz trucks with Russian humanitarian aid were permitted to clear the customs service on the Ukrainian territory and to proceed in the direction of Luhansk on Friday morning.

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Ukraine Russian Foreign Ministry Eastern Ukraine Humanitarian aid

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