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Russia armored vehicles join aid convoy near Ukraine
By Presstv.com
Russia
has reportedly stationed a dozen heavy military vehicles near the
border with Ukraine, where Moscow’s aid convoy destined for Ukrainian
civilians awaits permission to enter the country.
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On Friday, witnesses reported that 12 Russian armored personnel
carriers (APCs) appeared near the convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian
aid near the Ukrainian border..
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Meanwhile, Andriy Demchenko, a senior Ukrainian border official, said the country’s border guards have crossed into the Russian border “in large numbers” to inspect Moscow’s relief aid convoy.
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The convoy of at least 280 vehicles has been parked at a military depot in southern Russia amid disagreement between Moscow and Kiev over how and where it would cross into Ukraine.
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Russia says it seeks to provide the people in east Ukraine with 2,000 tons of water, baby food and other humanitarian aid. Moscow insists it has coordinated the dispatch of the goods with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
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However, the Kiev government and some Western states have said the humanitarian aid convoy could be a cover for a Russian military incursion into Ukraine.
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Kiev has also said it fears the Russian convoy might be a “Trojan horse” bringing in military support for the pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. Moscow has described such claims as “absurd.”
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Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to stifle the pro-Russian protests.
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The political unrest in eastern Ukraine has so far claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people, according to figures by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
