News.Kyiv.Me.

LUHANSK, Ukraine — Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated sharply yesterday as Moscow
sent more than 130 trucks rolling across the border in what it said was a mission to deliver
humanitarian aid.

Ukraine called the action a “direct invasion,” and the United States and NATO condemned the move
as well.

 In another ominous turn, NATO said it has mounting evidence that Russian troops are operating
inside Ukraine and launching artillery attacks from Ukrainian soil.

The trucks, part of a convoy of 260 vehicles, entered Ukraine without government permission
after being held up at the border for a week amid fears that the mission was a Kremlin ploy to help
pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine.

By late afternoon, trucks had reached the city of Luhansk. Its population of a quarter-million
people has suffered under intense fighting in the past several weeks between Ukrainian forces and
the separatists.

Russia said the vehicles were carrying food, water, generators and sleeping bags. Some of the
trucks were opened to reporters

a few days ago, and at least some of those items could be seen.

The arrival of the trucks raised the stakes in the crisis: An attack on the convoy could give
Russia a pretext to intervene more deeply in the war. And a pause in the fighting to allow the
convoy safe passage could hamper further battlefield advances by Ukrainian forces, which have
reported substantial inroads against the rebels during the past week.

In sending in the convoy, Russia said it had lost patience with Ukraine’s stalling tactics and
claimed that soon “there will no longer be anyone left to help” in Luhansk, where weeks of heavy
shelling have cut off power, water and phone service, and made food scarce.

At the United Nations in New York, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin hotly denied any Russian
troops were inside Ukraine. Russia also has steadfastly denied supporting and arming the
rebels.

However, Moscow’s decision to move unilaterally, without Red Cross involvement, raised questions
about its intentions.

Suspicions were running high that the humanitarian operation might instead be aimed at halting
Kyiv’s momentum on the battlefield.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk declared that the trucks were half-empty and were not
going to deliver aid but would instead be used to create a provocation. He said Russia would attack
the convoy itself, creating an international incident.

Ukrainian security services chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko called the convoy a “direct invasion”
and said the half-empty trucks would be used to transport weapons to rebels and spirit away the
bodies of Russian fighters killed in eastern Ukraine. He said the men operating the trucks were
Russian military personnel trained to drive combat vehicles, tanks and artillery.

Nalyvaichenko insisted, however, that Ukraine would not shell the convoy.

The Pentagon demanded Russia withdraw the convoy immediately, warning: “Failure to do so will
result in additional costs and isolation.”

The Red Cross, which had planned to escort the convoy to assuage fears that it was a cover for a
Russian invasion, said it had not received enough security guarantees to do so, as shelling had
continued overnight. Four troops were killed and 23 wounded in a 24-hour period in eastern Ukraine,
the government reported yesterday.

The government said it had authorized the entry of only 35 trucks. But international monitors
said that as of midday, 134 trucks, 12 support vehicles and one ambulance had crossed into
Ukraine.

Rebel forces took advantage of Ukraine’s promise not to shell the convoy to drive on the same
country road as the trucks. About 20 green military supply vehicles — flatbed trucks and fuel
tankers — were seen traveling in the opposite direction, along with smaller rebel vehicles.

The fighting in eastern Ukraine, which began in mid-April, has killed more than 2,000 people and
forced 340,000 to flee, according to the United Nations.

Yesterday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said the country’s honorary consul in
Luhansk had been abducted and killed by “terrorists.” There were no further details.