KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKY (Rostov Region), August 15 (RIA Novosti) – Russian humanitarian aid bound for Ukraine was revealed to members of the foreign and Russian press on Friday, a RIA Novosti correspondent at the site said.
Members of the press were able to randomly choose which of the nearly 300 white trucks laden with aid for Ukraine’s eastern republics to examine. The trucks are currently located at a parking facility not far from the Russian city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in Rostov Region.
Members of the press, including from the BBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, AP, and Agence France Presse, randomly chose 20 different trucks, the contents of which included bags of grain, baby food, drinking water and mobile diesel generators.
The 280 trucks are carrying around 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid, including 400 tons of grain, 100 tons of sugar, 62 tons of baby food, 54 tons of medical supplies and medication, 12,000 sleeping bags and 69 mobile electrical generators.
The humanitarian aid dispatched to troubled Ukrainian regions by Russia has been the subject of intense debate for more than a week already. The West, refusing to trust Russia’s intentions, said the aid would be “unjustified and illegal” unless Russia secured Kiev’s consent.
Last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry made clear that Russia should not interfere in the crisis in Ukraine under the pretext of humanitarian convoys or “peacekeeping.” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier this week there was a “high probability” the Russian humanitarian aid might be a pretext for a “military incursion” into Ukraine. The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations, calling them absurd.
Russia has repeatedly stressed the need for urgent measures to avert the looming humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and called on its Western partners not to impede humanitarian efforts.
