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Ukraine accuses Russia of cynicism over convoy; death toll rises sharply

14 August 2014 00:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Ukraine described Russia's dispatch of an aid convoy advancing now towards its border as a cynical act designed to fan a pro-Russian rebellion the UN said on Wednesday had claimed nearly 1,000 lives, fighters and civilians, in two weeks.

Kiev declared that the convoy would not be allowed to pass; but a presidential spokesman later suggested a compromise might be found, bringing it under the control of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

"First they send tanks, Grad missiles and bandits who fire on Ukrainians and then they send water and salt," Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said of a conflict that has killed over 2,000 since mid-April.

"The level of Russian cynicism knows no bounds."

The comments reflected suspicions in Kiev and Western capitals that passage of the convoy onto Ukrainian soil could turn into a covert military action to help separatists in the Russian-speaking east now losing ground to government forces.

Russia, which sees Russian-speakers in the east under threat from a government it considers chauvinistic, said any suggestion of a link between the convoy and an invasion plan was absurd.

The convoy of heavy trucks rumbled out of Moscow region on Tuesday and traveled some 500 km (300 miles) to the southwestern Russian town of Voronezh. There it stopped at an air base behind high fences, according to a Reuters reporter.

Several people who entered the airbase and spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said dozens of trucks were still parked at the airbase. It was not clear whether the Voronezh convoy was the only one traveling towards Ukraine.

"The journey isn't short, of course," one truck driver interviewed on Russian Rossiya-24 television commented.

"How can I put it? It's pretty difficult. But how could we not help our Slavic brothers? We are all for it."

An ICRC spokeswoman in Geneva said Russia had given a "general list" of goods on its convoy to Ukrainian authorities and the ICRC, but the aid agency needed a detailed inventory.

"A number of important issues still need to be clarified between the two sides, including border crossing procedures, customs clearance and other issues," Anastasia Isyuk said.

The list of contents on the 260-truck convoy provided by Moscow included food, water bottles and generators, she said.