ROSTOV-ON-DON, August 21 (RIA Novosti) – Russian and Ukrainian customs officers have completed inspection of the first four trucks carrying Russian humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine, a spokesman for Russia’s Southern Customs Directorate Rayan Farukshin said Thursday.
“Customs checks of four vehicles carrying humanitarian cargo have been completed. Four more vehicles have entered the customs inspection zone,” he said.
The vehicles are being checked jointly by Russian and Ukrainian customs officers.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry welcomed the start of Ukrainian customs checks for Russian humanitarian cargo, according to Maria Zakharova, deputy head of the ministry’s information and press department.
“Finally, we have reasons to hope that this series of weird, strange and inhumane actions, related to the humanitarian cargo delivery to southeastern Ukraine, would eventually stop,” Zakharova told the Rossiiskaya Sluzhba Novostei (Russian News Service) radio station.
Earlier in August, in light of the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine, Russia suggested sending an international humanitarian mission to eastern Ukraine under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The convoy comprises 280 trucks carrying about 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid, including baby food, medication, grain, sugar, sleeping bags and other necessities. It set off from the Moscow Region on August 12 heading toward Ukraine’s conflict areas.
