Russia to send humanitarian convoy to eastern Ukraine

The Kremlin’s statement comes as the Ukrainian government closed in on Donetsk and other remaining pro-Moscow rebel-held towns in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he would only support an aid mission with Russian if other international bodies, including the Red Cross and the European Union, were involved.

Poroshenko said US President Barack Obama had also backed the international plan when they spoke on the telephone on Monday.

The West has strongly warned Russia that any attempt to send its military personnel into Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian assistance would be seen as an invasion.

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Prior to the announcement on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso spoke on the phone.

Barroso’s office said in a statement that he had warned Russia “against any unilateral military actions in Ukraine, under any pretext, including humanitarian.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed Russia had agreed on the details of a humanitarian mission with the Ukrainian leadership, and added he hoped “our Western partners will not put a spanner in the works.”

Moscow did not provide any further details, including when the convoy would leave.

Earlier Monday, rockets slammed into a high-security prison in the main rebel-held city of Donetsk, igniting a riot that allowed more than 100 prisoners to flee, authorities said.

Donetsk city council spokesman Maxim Rovinsky said a direct rocket hit killed at least one inmate and left three others severely wounded. In the chaos, he said 106 prisoners escaped, included some jailed for murder, robbery and rape.

Many of those in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine distrust the new central government in Kyiv, which came to power after the February ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovych, whose power base was in eastern Ukraine.

Fighting began a month after Russia annexed Ukraine’s peninsula of Crimea in March.

Additional reporting by AP

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