In November 2014, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree imposing an economic blockade on eastern Ukraine and withdrawing all state-funded health, educational and social protection organizations from the Donbas Region.
"Russian humanitarian convoys being sent to the war-torn region, in fact, remain the only source of survival for the residents of Donbas," the ministry said in a statement.
According to the ministry, "Kiev's ongoing humanitarian blockade of the region is a matter of grave concern for the UN organizations.”
“The next [humanitarian aid] convoy is scheduled for March 26. More than 1,600 [metric] tons of cargo is to be delivered,” the ministry said.
Since August 2014, Russia sent over 25,000 metric tons of humanitarian aid — mainly food products, medicines and construction materials — to the people of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The most recent Russia’s aid convoy of 170 vehicles brought 1,900 metric tons of humanitarian cargo to Donbas on Thursday.
