MOSCOW, November 13 (Sputnik) – A new Russian humanitarian aid convoy is slated to leave for eastern Ukraine on November 14 and Moscow has already officially asked Kiev for assistance, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Thursday.
“Taking into account the continuing extremely difficult humanitarian situation in southeast Ukraine, the Russian side is preparing to send another, the seventh, humanitarian convoy into the region of Donetsk and Luhansk,” Lukashevich said.
“We have officially turned to the Ukrainian side with a request to assist in allowing this cargo through as well as in helping with security issues. We also hope for cooperation with the International Red Cross,” he added.
Since August, Russia has sent six aid convoys to eastern Ukraine, which has been suffering from a humanitarian crisis since Kiev launched a military operation against the region's independence supporters in April.
The convoys have delivered food, water, power generators and medicine, as well as warm clothes and winter supplies for residents of the conflict-torn regions to replenish their stocks ahead of the coming winter.
The last Russian humanitarian convoy consisted of 20 trucks and delivered more than 100 tons of aid to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions on November 4. The trucks returned to Russia on the same day.
