Suspicions greet Russian convoy on humanitarian mission to eastern Ukraine
A fleet of 280 Russian trucks allegedly carrying humanitarian aid is heading for eastern Ukraine, but the Ukrainian government and Red Cross say this isn't part of the agreement they reached.
A fleet of 280 Russian trucks allegedly carrying humanitarian aid is heading for eastern Ukraine, but the Ukrainian government and Red Cross say this isn't part of the agreement they reached.
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One day after an agreement was struck on an international relief effort in war-torn eastern Ukraine, fears are rising that Russia could use aid as a cover for military intervention.
Today a fleet of 280 Russian trucks carrying 2,000 tons of supplies 鈥� including baby food and sleeping bags 鈥� was headed toward the Ukrainian border, according to Russian media. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is spearheading a separate aid mission, said it was not aware of聽where the trucks were headed聽or what they were carrying.聽
鈥淭his convoy is not a certified convoy,鈥� Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine鈥檚 National Security and Defense Council, told the Associated Press, referring to the fleet of Russian trucks. 鈥淚t is not certified by the [ICRC],鈥� and will not be allowed to cross the border.
The ICRC is coordinating an aid mission on behalf of the United States, the European Union, Ukraine, and Russia. A spokesman for the Red Cross mission in Ukraine said: 鈥淎t this stage we have no agreement on this, and it looks like the initiative of the Russian Federation."
Ukrainian officials say Russia has placed some 45,000 troops along the border with eastern Ukraine, where fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces have claimed more than 1,100 lives since April. NATO reports a smaller number of Russian troops on the border with聽approximately 20,000.聽NATO said there was a 鈥渉igh probability鈥� that Russia could turn to military intervention in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reports.聽
Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of arming and training the rebels, a claim Moscow denies.聽 On Monday, EU President Jos茅 Manuel Barroso warned Russia 鈥渁gainst any unilateral military actions in Ukraine, under any pretext, including humanitarian,鈥� according to an EU statement.
Western powers have warned Russia 鈥渁gainst mounting a stealth invasion under the guise of humanitarian aid, and have looked on with growing alarm as Russian officials have spoken in ever-stronger terms about the humanitarian plight of eastern Ukrainians,鈥� reports The New York Times.
There鈥檚 no denying the need for humanitarian assistance in eastern Ukraine: Nearly a million people have been displaced in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and those who stayed in the homes mostly lack electricity and water.聽The number of refugees聽crossing the border into Russia聽has been estimated at close to half a million, straining local services and facilities there, 海角大神 reports.聽
Violence continues as Ukrainian troops continue their offensive, cutting off supply lines and shelling outlying districts. On Monday stray rockets hit the gate at a high security prison; more than 100 convicts escaped, according to The New York Times.
In an opinion column for The Boston Globe,聽Gary Samore and Simon Saradzhyan, directors at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs encouraged the聽international community not to "corner" Russian President Vladmir Putin, and to work together to establish a non-military end to the Ukrainian conflict.
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