Russia sends humanitarian convoy to Ukraine's Donbass
Russia’s 25th aid convoy has departed for Donbass region in southeastern Ukraine, with humanitarian cargoes and gifts for World War II veterans, a Russian official says.
“The convoy set off from the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Donskoy rescue centerin the Rostov region (southwestern Russia) at 0400 a.m. Moscow Time (0100 GMT) and is heading to the border,” Oleg Voronov, the deputy head of the National Crisis Management Center, which operates under the Russian Emergencies Ministry, was quoted by Russia's TASS News Agency as saying on Thursday.
Above 120 trucks, carrying over 1,400 tons of humanitarian cargoes, including food, clothing and medicine, have set off for the residents of the crisis-hit region, Voronov added.
The Russian aid also includes presents for WWII veterans living in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, ahead of the 70th anniversary of Victory Day, celebrated on May 9 and commemorating the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union, Voronov noted.
Meanwhile, the convoy will also deliver firefighting equipment for emergencies services and rescue crews in Donetsk and Lugansk.
Donbass residents are on the edge of a humanitarian calamity due to deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in eastern Ukraine, including mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, in April, 2014, to suppress pro-Russia protests there.
The region has also been suffering from a fiscal blockade imposed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in November, 2014, by which all state-funded health, educational and social protection organizations were withdrawn from Donbass.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry has sent over 31,500 metric tons of humanitarian aid cargoes to the people of Donetsk and Lugansk since August 2014. The next (26th) humanitarian aid convoy to Donbass is scheduled to be sent on May 14.
MIS/NN/HMV
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