Russia to send 3000 tons of aid to eastern Ukraine within week
MOSCOW, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) — Russia will send up to 3,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s southeastern region within a week, Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Stepanov said Tuesday.
One hundred trucks of the fourth Russian humanitarian aid convoy, carrying 1,000 metric tons of humanitarian aid, are expected to arrive in Russia’s Rostov region on Wednesday, Stepanov said.
“Within a week the total weight of humanitarian aid will amount to 3,000 metric tons,” Stepanov said, adding that it will be delivered both by aircraft and land vehicles.
On Tuesday, three aircraft will deliver part of the aid to Rostov-on-Don city, the administrative center of Rostov region, where the supplies will be loaded onto trucks, according to Stepanov.
The aid includes food, medicine and construction materials to help local residents prepare for the winter, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Nevertheless, Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said that Kyiv had received “no official information or documents” about the fourth Russian humanitarian aid convoy.
Moreover, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regional delegation said that the ICRC is not participating in the fourth humanitarian aid delivery.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that Moscow will patiently work with everyone to solve the problem of Russia delivering humanitarian aid to Ukraine, as well as other issues, in non-confrontational manner.
From August to September, Russia has sent three batches of humanitarian cargo to the insurgents-occupied territories of eastern Ukraine without Kyiv’s consent.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry insisted in late August that the Russian convoy should undergo border inspection before being allowed to enter Ukraine, while the ICRC should supervise and distribute the aid supplies.
Moscow has condemned Ukraine for its deliberate delaying of the aid delivery, while Kyiv and some Western countries have been objected to Russia’s aid delivery for fear that Russia “might take the opportunity to invade Ukraine.”