The FINANCIAL — MOSCOW–The convoy of Russian trucks that Moscow says is carrying humanitarian aid has arrived at Ukraine’s border and the country’s border police were awaiting the necessary paperwork to begin inspecting them, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council said Friday, according to Nasdaq, an American stock exchange.
The statement follows a Facebook post from the Ukrainian army saying border guards and customs officers had begun inspecting the convoy, which is destined for war-torn eastern Ukraine, at the Russian border post in Donetsk.
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying that inspection and processing will begin as soon as the paperwork is received from the International Committee of the Red Cross. After the cargo is processed, the Red Cross will be responsible for transporting the goods across the border, he said. He wasn’t aware of the specifics of the process, he added.
The start of customs processing could help ease tension over the convoy of nearly 300 trucks, which Ukraine has said could be used as a prelude to a Russian invasion, according to Nasdaq.
Ukraine, backed by Western capitals, says Russia is supplying fighters and weapons to pro-Russia rebels that are dug in around several towns and cities in Ukraine’s east. Russia denies this, and says the trucks constitute a relief mission aimed at alleviating the crisis in the region, where government forces have fought the insurgents for four months.
The convoy has been attracting global media attention for days by traveling around Russia toward the conflict zone, with no apparent agreement as to how it would be handled.
Red Cross spokesman Ewan Watson said the aid organization was monitoring reports about the convoy’s status but hadn’t received confirmation that it was required to participate in the relief effort, according to Nasdaq.
The Red Cross requires written confirmation from Ukrainian authorities that the convoy’s cargo has cleared the country’s customs process, Mr. Watson said. The aid organization also needs Ukraine and Russia to agree that the contents will be transferred to the Red Cross and guarantee the safety of its personnel.
“From our perspective, it seems an agreement has yet to be reached,” Mr. Watson said. “It remains an evolving situation.”
The Red Cross has more than 50 staffers in Ukraine and has distributed medical supplies to hospitals in some of the most hard-hit areas, such as Donetsk, since April.
The convoy is part of an effort by Moscow to highlight the increasingly dire plight of civilians caught in the conflict and shame Ukraine for failing to look after its own citizens. Ukraine dispatched its own aid shipment Thursday, in what initially seemed to be part of a public-relations battle between the two countries.
Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of starting a war against its own citizens and killing civilians in its campaign to put down pro-Russian separatist rebels in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukraine, meanwhile, has blamed Russia for starting the fighting by furtively backing the separatist movement.
The United Nations has warned of a ballooning death toll, and the situation has become particularly dire in the Luhansk region, according to Nasdaq.
For weeks, the Ukrainian military has increasingly encircled the rebel-held city of Donetsk and advanced toward nearby Luhansk. But Kiev has also suffered setbacks, including an incident in which many Ukrainian soldiers fled across the Russian border after finding themselves cut off and surrounded by rebels.
The rebels, too, have faced upheaval. In a surprise announcement Thursday, the main separatist military leader, a Russian citizen named Igor Girkin who goes by the nom de guerre Igor Strelkov, left his post as defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. The move came hours after Valery Bolotov, leader of the Luhansk People’s Republic, the other main separatist formation, said he was stepping down temporarily after sustaining an injury, according to Nasdaq.
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