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Trucks
with Russian aid reach Lugansk, E. Ukraine
The Russian aid convoy on Friday finally reached Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, which has been devastated by repeated shelling. White Kamaz trucks delivered essentials such as food, water, medications, sleeping bags, and electric generators.
RT,
22 August, 2014
Moscow
has accused Kiev of placing political interests above humanitarian
concerns, adding that it is confident it made the right decision to
order a convoy with Russian humanitarian aid to proceed to the
conflict zone without waiting for further Ukrainian
permission.
Twenty-four aid distribution centers have been
set up in the city, 12 of which will open on Saturday morning,
according to the administration of the self-proclaimed People’s
Republic of Lugansk.
“Pensioners, families where both
parents work in the public sector, refugees who suffered from
shelling, the disabled and hospital patients will be the first to
receive the aid,” said
Oleg Tsaryov, the speaker for the parliament of the Union of the
Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.
Part of the
Russian humanitarian aid may be sent to the neighboring Donetsk
region, which has also been heavily hit by the ongoing violence.
The
Russian convoy to Ukraine left Moscow on August 12, and then got
stuck at the Ukrainian border for a week as Kiev postponed its final
approval for the trucks loaded with humanitarian cargo to cross into
the country for various reasons.
Over this period, the
Russian side made “unprecedented
efforts in all areas and at all levels” in
order to complete the required formalities, and met all of
Kiev’s “conceivable
and inconceivable” demands,
the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a Friday statement.“Time
and again, we met requests to check and recheck the shipment route,
to coordinate procedures for the shipment’s delivery, and have
signed the required documents with the ICRC,” it
read.
On Friday, Moscow accused Kiev of deliberately
delaying the aid delivery and ordered its convoy to start moving
towards Lugansk.“It
is no longer possible to tolerate this lawlessness, outright lies and
inability to reach agreements,” the
foreign ministry said.
The International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) – which under the initial plan was to escort
the convoy – could not comply due to security concerns.“That’s
because of the problems with security,” Galina
Balzamova of the ICRC told RT. “Lugansk
was shelled all night long. We believe we did not get sufficient
guarantees of safety from all the parties to the conflict to start
escorting the convoy.”
Over this period, the Russian side made “unprecedented efforts in all areas and at all levels” in order to complete the required formalities, and met all of Kiev’s “conceivable and inconceivable” demands, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a Friday statement.“Time and again, we met requests to check and recheck the shipment route, to coordinate procedures for the shipment’s delivery, and have signed the required documents with the ICRC,” it read.
On Friday, Moscow accused Kiev of deliberately delaying the aid delivery and ordered its convoy to start moving towards Lugansk.“It is no longer possible to tolerate this lawlessness, outright lies and inability to reach agreements,” the foreign ministry said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – which under the initial plan was to escort the convoy – could not comply due to security concerns.“That’s because of the problems with security,” Galina Balzamova of the ICRC told RT. “Lugansk was shelled all night long. We believe we did not get sufficient guarantees of safety from all the parties to the conflict to start escorting the convoy.”
The
head of the Russian Red Cross, Raisa Lukutsova, said the organization
supported the decision to get the humanitarian convoy moving.
“The
fact that the humanitarian mission has started – this has probably
been the right decision,”Lukutsova
said. “For how long do
we have to put up with this mockery? They put forward one demand
after another. All of them unrealistic.”
ICRC
confirmed that people in areas affected by the ongoing conflict in
eastern Ukraine are in “urgent
need for essentials like food and medical supplies.”
The
humanitarian crisis is particularly acute in Lugansk, where people
have gone for weeks without water and electricity and have to queue
every day for whatever scarce food supplies are brought to the city.
Outcry
over humanitarian aid?
But
Moscow’s move has triggered an outcry in Kiev.
“We
call it a direct invasion,” Ukraine's
intelligence (SBU) chief, Valentyn Nalivaychenko told
journalists.
“Under the
cynical cover of the Red Cross these are military vehicles with
documents to cover them up.”
Ukraine’s
Foreign Ministry accused Moscow of “smuggling
humanitarian aid to Ukraine” and
said it had to allow the convoy to pass.
“To
avoid provocations we have given all the necessary orders to let the
convoy pass safely,” the
ministry’s statement said.
Russia, in response to
criticism by Kiev officials, stressed it has always acted within the
framework of international law.
“We
are acting in full compliance with the norms of international
humanitarian law.
We can no longer and will not accept the distress
of residents living in the southeastern Ukraine,” said
Sergey Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy Foreign Minister.
Kiev
authorities were “making
up” countless
bureaucratic hurdles, “the
crossing of which appeared to be more difficult than for our trucks
to travel down the road damaged by Ukrainian shelling,” the
official added.
In Moscow’s view, Kiev authorities
attempted to buy time and finish the military operation
oppressing“their own
people” in
the area “where Russian
humanitarian aid is being distributed.”
However,
Ryabkov added, they failed to do so.
“We
are confident that we are right. And we accuse Kiev and countries
that support it that over and over again they have been placing their
political – as a matter of fact anti-Russian – interests above
established norms of humanism and compassion,” Ryabkov
said.
“Kiev
insinuations” would
be followed by “similarly
hypocritical” lecturing
from other capitals, the diplomat observed. And that appeared to be
exactly the scenario.
Kiev’s
stance was first echoed by the EU, who labeled Moscow’s decision to
order the convoy to go ahead without Kiev’s consent “a
clear violation of the Ukrainian border.”
The
US accused Russia of “a
violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity” and
called on Moscow to withdraw its convoy.
“Russia
must remove its vehicles and its personnel from the territory of
Ukraine immediately. Failure to do so will result in additional costs
and isolation,” Rear
Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told a briefing,
Reuters reported.
NATO has also joined the chorus of
condemnation, with the alliance's chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
saying in a statement that Moscow’s move “can
only deepen the crisis in the region, which Russia itself has created
and has continued to fuel.”
Russia’s
envoy to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko, said such comments by the bloc’s
chief can lead only to one conclusion: they are “completely
indifferent” to
the humanitarian disaster in east Ukraine and are “not
interested” in
the earliest settlement to the crisis.
“On
the contrary, despite everything, indulgence to Kiev’s criminal
suppression of its own people continues,” he
told Itar-Tass.
Ukraine
agreed to let the convoy pass during an August 20 phone call between
the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers. That conversation gave a
start to customs procedures for checking and registering the contents
of the trucks comprising the convoy.
The
next day the process was halted by Ukraine, citing intensified
shelling of Lugansk.
Russian Journalists Come Under Mortar Fire in East Ukraine - Luhansk Authorities
22
August, 2014
MOSCOW,
August 22 (RIA Novosti) — A group of journalists from
several Russian media outlets, including Rossiya Segodnya, ITAR-TASS
and NTV television, came under mortar fire in violence-torn eastern
Ukraine, a spokesman for self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic
said Friday.
The
group was covering clashes between Kiev-led forces and independence
supporters in the city of Luhansk.
“No
casualties among journalists have been reported,” Petr Mikhailov
told RIA Novosti, adding that a 7-year old girl was severely injured.
He
also said that firing became a regular activity aimed at spreading
panic among the residents of Luhansk. Mikhailov said that even though
no endemics were recorded in Luhansk, local mortuaries are not coping
as the number of killed in mortar firings is increasing.
For
almost two weeks the situation
in Luhansk has
remained unchanged – the city has no electricity or communication,
as well as no food, water or fuel supplies.
Since
mid-April, Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a special
military operation against independence supporters in eastern regions
of the country. The fighting has involved armored vehicles, heavy
artillery and air strikes, and claimed hundreds civilian lives.
Earlier
this month, Russia sent a humanitarian
convoy to
help the residents of the crisis-torn city survive. But the delivery
of the humanitarian aid has been significantly delayed due to
numerous procedures at the Ukrainian
customs
Further protraction of Russian aid delivery to southeastern Ukraine inadmissible —Putin
That
was Russia's humanitarian convoy started its movement, Russian
President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on
Friday
22
August, 2014
MOSCOW,
August 22./ITAR-TASS/. Further delay in the delivery of Russian
humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s embattled southeastern regions was
inadmissible, Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor
Angela Merkel on Friday.
That
was Russia's humanitarian convoy started its movement, Putin said.
The
Kremlin reported that the conversation was requested by the German
side on the eve of Merkel’s planned visit to Kiev scheduled for
August 23.
All
Russian humanitarian convoy trucks arrive in Luhansk
“In
particular, certain steps Russia and Germany could make to contribute
to the soonest possible termination of hostilities and organization
of intra-Ukrainian political dialogue were discussed,” the Kremlin
reported.
The
sides expressed “serious concern over the large-scale escalation of
the Kiev authorities’ military operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk
regions, which leads to new casualties among civilians.”
Putin
and Merkel agreed to continue contacts on the Ukrainian issue.
Russia’s
delivery of humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s embattled southeastern
regions fully complies with norms of the international humanitarian
laws, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday.
“By
appealing to the norms of the international laws, which we have
always observed and will be observing, means shifting the blame,”
Ryabkov said.
Russia
has sent a humanitarian cargo to Ukraine to deliver food, medicines
and water to the conflict zone. Infographics by ITAR-TASS
“We
are acting in full compliance with the norms of the international
humanitarian law,” the diplomat said in a statement. “We are not
going to put up anymore with the distressful situation of people
living in protesting southeastern regions of Ukraine.”
The
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry sent a convoy of some 270
trucks with relief supplies for residents of the war-torn southeast
of Ukraine on August 12. The cargo contains some 2,000 metric tons of
humanitarian aid, including food (grain, sugar, baby food),
medications, sleeping bags and portable power generators.
'We need this help': Starving Lugansk people in desperate expectation of Russian aid trucks
Russia's Foreign Ministry has called the humanitarian situation in Eastern Ukraine appalling. Cities have been shelled by the military every day this week. RT's Maria Finoshina reports from Lugansk
Here is the response from the presstitutes of Empire
Russian aid convoy into Ukraine called 'direct invasion'
Is it an act of compassion or one of belligerence?
CNN,
22 August, 2014Both judgments were offered Friday on the dozens of Russian trucks that have rolled into eastern Ukraine, a move Russian leaders cast as necessary to address a humanitarian crisis and a Ukrainian official characterized as an "invasion" of his nation by its mighty neighbor to the east.
While
getting agreement on the right answer is impossible at this moment,
there's little doubt the actions have raised tensions to new levels
-- and that's saying something, given the volatility over the past
many months.
The
latest row revolves around aid going from Russia to Ukraine. Kiev had
stalled trucks on the Russian side of the border for days, before
acknowledging Sunday that the convoy, in fact, had humanitarian aid.
That
admission didn't end the discord and debate. As of 11:30 p.m. (4:30
p.m. ET) Friday, 227 Russian vehicles had crossed into Ukraine,
according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe, which has an observer mission at the checkpoint the convoy
went through.
All
the vehicles were supposed to be monitored by members of the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
But
Russia ended up diverting at least 34 such trucks despite the fact
the Red Cross wasn't accompanying them due to the "volatile
security situation" -- a reference to continued fighting between
pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces.
Russian
aid convoy to enter Ukraine Army: Civilian convoy attacked in Ukraine
Ukrainian refugees flee to Russia
Ukraine
has repeatedly accused Russia of directly and indirectly bolstering
the rebel movement. The Kiev-based government and its allies --
including the NATO alliance and its core member, the United States --
see this convoy as perhaps Moscow's most glaring, egregious move yet.
"We
call this a direct invasion for the first time under cynical cover of
the Red Cross," said Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, the head of
Ukraine's security service.
Right
now, Ukraine isn't planning to go after the convoy. Still,
Nalyvaychenko thinks its main purpose is to supply rebels and its
drivers are not even civilians.
To
Russian President Vladimir Putin, it is Ukraine's government -- not
his -- that's being irresponsible and fueling instability in eastern
Ukraine.
Putin
expressed "serious concern" to German Chancellor Angela
Merkel about endangered civilians and other impacts from Ukraine's
"continued (military) escalation," according to the
Kremlin.
He
further criticized what he characterized "Kiev's blatant
attempts to hinder the delivery of Russian humanitarian aid"
into southeast Ukraine, implying he had no choice but to act.
"Further
delay would have been unacceptable," a Kremlin statement said.
U.S.
official warns Russia on convoys
The
international community hardly universally embraced Putin's version
of events.
Start
with Merkel, who -- according to her country's U.N. mission -- voiced
"grave concern" to Putin about the Russian convoy going
into Ukraine without permission. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's
office warned that "any unilateral action has the potential of
exacerbating an already dangerous situation in eastern Ukraine."
A
similar, if stronger viewpoint came from NATO Secretary General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who said that the "so-called humanitarian
convoy ... can only deepen the crisis in the region, which Russia
itself has created and has continued to fuel."
"The
disregard of international humanitarian principles raises further
questions about whether the true purpose of the aid convoy is to
support civilians or to resupply armed separatists," Rasmussen
said in a statement.
U.S.
officials also laid into Russia.
Pentagon
spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said that Moscow has been told in
"very, very clear (terms) that they should not be doing this
under the guise of a humanitarian convoy, to use that as an excuse to
cross the border in an a nonauthorized way."
Russia
must remove its vehicles and its personnel from the territory of
Ukraine immediately.
"Russia
must remove its vehicles and its personnel from the territory of
Ukraine immediately," Kirby told reporters. "Failure to do
so will result in additional costs and isolation."
This
view was seconded by Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, who
deemed the convoy -- which he said his nation and its allies are
tracking closely -- "as part of a pattern of flagrant violation
of Ukrainian sovereignty." The more Moscow does such things that
stir instability in Ukraine, the more it will pay, according to
Rhodes.
"If
(Russia does) not remove the convoys, we will be making
determinations with our international partners about how to ratchet
up the costs and consequences on them," Rhodes said.
U.S.
official: Up to 18,000 Russian troops on border
It's
not just the Russian vehicles that crossed into Ukraine that are
causing consternation. So, too, are the Russian troops massed at the
border.
There
were up to 18,000 such "combat-ready" troops on Friday, a
significant increase from previous public estimates by the Pentagon,
according to a U.S. defense official with direct access to the latest
information.
The
official described the units as being in a "fully combat-capable
offensive posture."
A
second U.S. official said that many of the units were positioned at
"crossroads and towns" two to 10 miles from the border.
"They
are definitely more overt, aggressive and out in the open," the
official said. "They aren't even hiding it."
The
second official said the United States has believed for weeks that
some Russian troops have crossed the border as part of the convoys of
military gear and weapons moving from Russia into Ukraine.
Of
particular concern is the apparent transport of long-range and
advanced systems including at least two SA-22 surface-to-air missile
system and a number of pieces of longer-range artillery.
The
fear is that any advance of any kind could make the ongoing fighting
-- sparked last year by a political crisis over whether Ukraine would
seek closer ties with Europe or Russia -- even worse. U.N. officials
estimate that more than 2,000 people have died and nearly 5,000 have
been wounded in eastern Ukraine since mid-April.
Even
if the Russian military doesn't explicitly march into Ukraine, there
are concerns that -- as Kiev has claimed many times before -- it will
find other ways to bolster the rebels.
Russia's
ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, insisted Friday
that the current humanitarian convoy won't be one of them.
He
told reporters that Russia received "official acceptance by Kiev
authorities" for the convoy, and that Moscow is staying in touch
with Ukrainian officials to make sure there are no problems in the
process of distribution of the aid.
From Zero Hedge -
From Zero Hedge -
Pentagon
Demands Russia Remove Convoy "Immediately" As NYT Reports
Russians Firing Artillery In Ukraine
The
Russian military has moved artillery units manned by Russian
personnel inside Ukrainian territory in recent days and is using them
to fire at Ukrainian forces, New
York Times reported, citing NATO officials. The Russian move, NYTimes
reports, represents a significant escalation of the Kremlin’s
involvement in the fighting there and comes as a convoy of Russian
trucks with humanitarian provisions has crossed into Ukrainian
territory without Kiev’s permission. The US is now getting
involved, as WSJ reports,
- Pentagon calls on Russia to 'Remove Vehicles Immediately' From Ukraine
- Kirby says "very concerned" by Russian convoy in Ukraine.
Ukrainian
Security Service chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko said the move
amounted to a "direct invasion,"and
The Pentagon has warned "failure
to [remove its vehicles] will result in further costs and isolation."
- NATO SAYS RUSSIAN ARTILLERY SUPPORT BEING USED AGAINST UKRAINE
NATO SAYS MULTIPLE REPORTS OF DIRECT RUSSIAN INVOLVEMENT
Time
for some YouTube clips?
*
* *
The Russian military has moved artillery units manned by Russian personnel inside Ukrainian territory in recent days and is using them to fire at Ukrainian forces, NATO officials said on Friday.
...
Since mid-August NATO has received multiple reports of the direct involvement of Russian forces, “including Russian airborne, air defense and special operations forces in Eastern Ukraine,” said Oana Lungescu, a spokeswoman for NATO.
“Russian artillery support — both cross-border and from within Ukraine — is being employed against the Ukrainian armed forces,” she added.
- *KIRBY SAYS RUSSIA FACES COSTS, ISOLATION IF CONVOY REMAINS
- *KIRBY SAYS AID CONVOY SHOULDN'T BE EXCUSE TO CROSS BORDER
- *KIRBY SAYS RUSSIA CONTINUES TO ADD TROOPS NEAR UKRAINE BORDER
- *KIRBY SAYS RUSSIAN FORCE NEAR UKRAINE INCREASINGLY READY, ARMED
- *KIRBY SAYS `A LOT OF EQUIPMENT' HAS BEEN MOVED INTO UKRAINE
- *GENERAL BREEDLOVE SAYS RUSSIAN CONVOY IN UKRAINE A CAUSE FOR CONCERN
The United States is very concerned about the movement of a Russian convoy into Ukraine in violation of its territorial integrity and is calling on Moscow to withdraw its equipment and personnel immediately, the Pentagon said on Friday.
"This is a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity by Russia," Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told a briefing. "Russia must remove its vehicles and its personnel from the territory of Ukraine immediately. Failure to do so will result in additional costs and isolation."
No,
not more "costs" - Germany, which is about to enter full
blown recession, is crying uncle already. Just ask the NSA...
And
the Russian denial...
- CHURKIN: NO RUSSIAN MILITARY FORCES IN UKRAINE
- CHURKIN: NO PROOF OF RUSSIAN ARTILLERY IN UKRAINE
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