LUHANSK, September 13 (RIA Novosti) - Residents of Ukraine's eastern city of Luhansk took to the streets Saturday to welcome the arrival of the second Russian humanitarian aid convoy.
Residents gathered with symbols of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic to meet the Russian trucks of the humanitarian convoy as they were sent to unload at warehouses.
The first trucks entered the town at 3:20 GMT. The first group of 70 trucks took 30 minutes to drive from the Russian checkpoint “Izvarino” to the unloading zone 65 kilometers (40 miles) away in Luhansk. The previous journey according to trucks drivers was 120 kilometers due to alternative militia-led routes avoiding main roads risking the column to fire.
The convoy includes 200 trucks that are carrying canned food, sugar, flour and other aid of a total weight of 1,880 thousand tons. It is expected that all Russian vehicles will be unloaded by 3:00 GMT.
The first convoy of 280 trucks carrying about 2,000 tons of Russian humanitarian aid was sent to eastern Ukraine in late August and entered the country through a checkpoint controlled by independence forces after spending more than a week waiting at the border.
