Ukraine in Arabic | Russia sends humanitarian convoys to Ukraine without any permission

16.12.2014 - 00:00 #Russia, #convoy, #Ukraine, #Red Cross, #permission, #Dmitry Maksimichev

Russian Federation already has formed the tenth ‘humanitarian convoy’ to be sent to Donbas.

KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Another convoy of 141 trucks that Moscow says is carrying aid for the people of the Donbas entered Ukraine on Friday, without permission from Kyiv, the press service of the State Border Service reported on Friday.

"The Russian side has unilaterally implemented the clearance of the ninth humanitarian aid convoy,” a Ukrainian border service report reads.

“As the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross did not participate in the movement of a cargo, the Ukrainian consolidated unit didn’t have supervisory functions, [and] that’s why it carried out only a visual inspection of the crossing of the Ukrainian border by the Russian trucks,” the report says.

Russian officials earlier said that Ukrainian border guards would be allowed to inspect the contents of the convoy. However, Ukrainian border officials say they were only allowed to carry out a visual inspection of the trucks’ cargo.

"A visual inspection was carried out by two consolidated border and customs groups at the border crossing points for road transport Donetsk and Matveev Kurgan on the territory of the Russian Federation," the State Border Service said.

"Eighty-seven Russian trucks were cleared from 0710 to 0820 through the checkpoint Donetsk of the Russian Federation. Another 54 Russian trucks were cleared from 0700 to 0740 through the checkpoint Matveev Kurgan of the Russian Federation," according to the Ukrainian border guards’ report.

Meanwhile, Russian government preparing the tenth convoy. Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Maksimichev told this. The diplomat also said that Russia has already sent 11 tons of "humanitarian aid” in its "convoys" to Donbas and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) could assist the affected population in Ukraine more actively.

"We believe that international humanitarian organizations, especially the OCHA and the ICRC could play a more significant role in these efforts and be more actively involved in the process to alleviate the situation of people who suffer," Maksimichev said.

The New York representation of the OCHA declined to comment on the call of the Russian side.

ukrinform.ua