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Russia
Sends Second Humanitarian Convoy Into Ukraine, And Nobody Says A Word
13
September, 2014
About
a month ago, when Russia sent a humanitarian convoy to aid ethnic
Russians in east Ukraine, the Western world, and of course media,
screamed bloody murder, with everyone from NATO to the Kiev
government declaring it, without a shadow of a doubt, an invasion, a
Trojan Horse, and a convoy of arms deliveries for the rebels caught
in the Ukraine civil war, not necessarily in that order. Nobody
thought it could possibly be just that: a convoy of humanitarian aid
delivering provisions to hundreds of thousands of civilians caught in
the middle of a war. Then finally, after weeks of delays, the convoy
was allowed in and after unloading its cargo, promptly returned to
Russia without a single incident.
Fast
forward to today, when hours ago Russia sent a second humanitarian
convoy into east Ukraine, which entered without enter the approval of
Kiev or the oversight of the Red Cross and nobody said a word.
As
if all the posturing and warmongering rhetoric have long since
departed the Ukraine, now that the US is fully engaged in yet another
war, this time not a proxy civil war but one involving doing Qatar's
natural gas pipeline bidding once more, meaning it is time to
conclude what was started in early 2013 and once again try to
dethrone Syria's assad so that the all important Gazprom-displacing
pipeline from the middle east can finally make its way to Europe,
aided by a soon to be new, pro-American government in Syria.
But
back to Ukraine where the second convoy barely made news and the
details about it were only revealed several paragraphs deep inside
this AP article about
ongoing fighting near the Donetsk airport:
On
Saturday Russia also sent a convoy across the border of Ukraine,
loaded with what Russian reports said was humanitarian aid, without
the approval of Kiev or oversight of the international Red Cross.
A similar convoy in August was loudly condemned by Ukrainian
officials as an invasion, but this time around Lysenko simply called
the move "illegal." The
country's top leaders have remained silent, underscoring how
dramatically the mood has shifted in the Kiev government since a
cease-fire deal was struck.
The
last truck crossed onto Ukrainian soil early Saturday from the
Russian border town Donetsk, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) miles
east of the Ukrainian city with the same name, Rayan Farukshin, a
spokesman for Russia's customs agency, told the Associated Press by
phone.
The
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's observer
mission to the Russian-Ukrainian border said 220 trucks had crossed
into Ukraine. Only 40 trucks were checked by the Russian border
guard, while the other 180 were waved straight through, it said. None
of the vehicles were inspected by the Ukrainian side or by the ICRC.
"Ukraine
border guards and customs were not allowed to examine the cargo and
vehicles," Lysenko said. "Representatives of the Red Cross
don't accompany the cargo, nobody knows what's inside."
The
Russian emergency ministry, which coordinated previous humanitarian
aid deliveries to Ukraine, could not be reached for comment about the
convoy.
Even
the AP is confused by the change in rhetoric:
In
August, Ukrainian officials said that a first convoy of humanitarian
aid from Russia would be seen as an invasion of the country, and
loudly protested any attempts by Russia to unilaterally bring in the
aid. Eventually Russia sent its trucks across the border and into
rebel-held territory without the oversight of the International Red
Cross, contrary to an agreement signed between Ukraine and Russia.
A
representative of the ICRC's Moscow office said they had not been
informed about the current convoy, either.
"We
were not officially notified of an agreement between Moscow and Kiev
to ship the cargo," Galina Balzamova said Saturday.
Others
were also quick to point out the inconsistencies in a narrative that
changes day to day:
Back
in Kiev, the confused Western-puppet government, while reiterating
the generic talking points, had no idea how to frame the second
Russian humanitarian "invasion" so it just kept silent.
At
a conference with politicians and business leaders in Kiev, Ukrainian
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that Ukraine was "still in
a state of war" with neighboring Russia and struck out against
President Vladimir Putin, whose goal he said was to "take the
entire Ukraine." "He cannot cope with the idea that Ukraine
would be a part of a big EU family. He wants to restore the Soviet
Union," Yatsenyuk said.
Despite
the tough talk, often heard among Ukrainian politicians as they gear
up for parliamentary election, Yatsenyuk made no mention of the
Russian convoy.
RIA
reports
that the distribution of
Russian humanitarian aid will start as early as Monday, according to
the First Deputy Premier Minister of the self-proclaimed Luhansk
People's Republic Valery Potapov: "We
will start giving out [humanitarian aid to the population] on
Monday,"
the official said. He also noted that the Luhansk authorities have
designed a system of humanitarian aid distribution following the
previous Russian humanitarian aid convoy, delivered to the Eastern
Ukrainian city in late August. Which suggest that the convoy will
remain around Donetsk for at least 48 hours, something with the Kiev
regime of a month ago would loudly label as a undisputed invasion,
and yet this time, nobody says a word.
Which
goes back to what we wondered about last week: why the push by both
sides, Ukraine and Russia, to mask the ongoing events in eaat Ukraine
under a blanket "ceasefire" regime, when clearly nothing
has changed and when the fighting between the Ukraine army and
separatists is waged daily: who is it that benefits the most from a
facade of fake clam and what happens next?
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