BERLIN, October 5. /TASS/. Germany has sent to Ukraine a humanitarian convoy, comprising more than 100 trucks, the German Economic Co-operation and Development Ministry said on Saturday.
In view of the coming winter, the federal government initiated the dispatch of aid [to Ukraine] worth about 10 million euro, the ministry said.
The humanitarian supplies consist of heating appliances, blankets, construction materials, folding beds, generators, warm clothes. The trucks, dispatched from 17 German cities, will arrive at the Polish-Ukrainian border on Tuesday. From there the cargo will be delivered to destinations in batches.
On October 14, part of the cargo will be received in Kharkov by German Economic Co-operation and Development Minister Gerd Muller, the report says.
Spiegel online website says that the humanitarian cargo delivery was initiated by Muller, According to Spiegel, it was not co-ordinated with other government officials. The German Interior and Foreign Ministries expressed discontent in this connection. The Foreign Ministry told Muller that it was responsible for humanitarian missions.
Russia had previously dispatched three convoy with humanitarian supplies for residents of Donbas in the east of the country. The last convoy returned to Russia on September 21 - about 200 Kamaz trucks delivered to the east of Ukraine food products, including cereals and canned food, as well as generators, medicines, warm clothes and drinking water. The total weight of the cargo was some 2,000 tonnes.
The first two Russian humanitarian relief convoys for the southeast of Ukraine delivered to Lugansk a total of 4,000 tonnes of supplies.
Another convoy from Russia is expected to deliver to Lugansk food products, as well as building materials for the restoration of destroyed infrastructure - in particular, roofing slate and double-glazed windows.
Russia’s State Secretary, Deputy Emergencies Minister Vladimir Artamonov told TASS on October 1 that the timeframe of the passage of the fourth Russian convoy was not determined yet. “This is a question of interstate co-operation of the two countries. When all the necessary arrangements are made, then another convoy will be sent to Ukraine,” he said, adding that “the convoy is currently being prepared - it is practically ready.