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A convoy of 280 Russian lorries apparently packed with aid parcels are to be blocked from entering eastern Ukraine amid fears they could be carrying military supplies for pro-Kremlin rebels.

Ukraine said it would prevent the vehicles passing through a 60-mile stretch of rebel-held border because they had not been certified by the Red Cross and had provided no information on exactly what they are carrying or where they are heading.

According to Russian media reports, the white lorries left Moscow this morning carrying up to 2,000 tons of aid – ranging from baby food to sleeping bags – and are now heading for eastern Ukraine.

Concerns: Ukraine said it would prevent the vehicles passing through a 60-mile stretch of rebel-held border because they had not been certified by the Red Cross

Aid: A Russian Orthodox clergyman blesses the convoy. Russian media said the 280 lorries had now left Moscow and would take a couple of days to make the 620 mile journey to Ukraine’s eastern regions

Both Kyiv and Western governments have warned Moscow not to turn the aid operation into a military operation in a region facing a humanitarian crisis following four months of warfare.

The plan now is for the cargo to be taken to a government border in the north of Ukraine – rather than through a rebel-held crossing – where the parcels will be checked by the Red Cross and reloaded on to new vehicles, which will then travel to crisis-hit areas in the east of the country.

‘We will not allow any escort by the emergencies ministry of Russia or
by the military [onto Ukrainian territory]. Everything will be under the
control of the Ukrainian side,’ Kyiv’s presidential aide Valery
Chaly told journalists.

Russian media said the 280 trucks had left Moscow and it would take a couple of days for them to make the 620 mile journey to Ukraine’s eastern regions, where rebel fighters seek union with Russia.

Western countries believe Russian President Vladimir Putin – who has whipped up nationalist fervour in Russia through the state-controlled media since annexing Crimea in March – might be spurred to fresh action since separatists in their main redoubt of Donetsk are encircled by Kyiv forces.

Conflict: Both Kyiv and Western governments have warned Moscow not to turn the aid operation into a military operation in a region facing a humanitarian crisis following four months of warfare

Rossiya 24 TV showed a 1.8 mile long line of containers and trucks loaded with crates of water stretched along a road with workers in a light summer wear of shorts and shirts loading sacks of aid.

A Russian orthodox priest marched across the line, spraying them with holy water before they left.

‘It has all been agreed with Ukraine,’ Business FM radio quoted Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, as saying of an operation publicised with fanfare on Russian TV channels.

The U.S., French and Australian governments voiced concern that Russia – the sole international supporter of pro-Kremlin rebels in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking east – could use the humanitarian deliveries to carry out a covert operation to help fighters who appear to be on the verge of defeat.

With Ukraine reporting Russia has massed 45,000 troops on its border, NATO yesterday said there was a ‘high probability’ Moscow might now intervene militarily in Ukraine.

Hunt: Government soldiers from battalion ‘Donbass’ search from house to house for pro-Russian rebels in village the village of Mariinka, near Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine yesterday

Itar-Tass news agency said the convoy of lorries is carrying 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid – including 400 tons of cereal, 100 tons of sugar, 62 tons of baby food, 54 tons of medical equipment and medicine, 12,000 sleeping bags, and 69 power generators of various sizes.

Thousands of people are believed to be short of water, electricity and medicine in Donetsk and Luhansk due to bitter fighting, which has so far involved government air strikes and missile attacks.

The U.N. says well over 1,000 people have been killed in the conflict – including government forces, rebels and civilians.

A Malaysian airliner was downed on July 17 with the deaths of all 298 people on board, after apparently being shot down by rebel forces.

Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia, which opposes the new leadership’s pro-Western policies, has been funnelling tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons to the rebels for months.

Moscow denies these claims.

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