Headlines! Russia Sends Aid Convoy to Eastern Ukraine

A convoy of 280 trucks near Moscow left for Ukraine on an international humanitarian relief mission on Tuesday morning. Ukrainian and Western leaders have expressed concerns that Russia could use an aid mission as cover for sending troops into rebel-held territory. (Photo: AP

Russia sent a convoy of 280 trucks carrying what it said was humanitarian aid for war-torn cities in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, setting off diplomatic tension over efforts to ease civilian suffering there.
 
Ukrainian officials said that they had been notified by Moscow of the column and that it was expected to cross the border at a post near Kharkiv, under the control of Ukrainian authorities and the International Red Cross.
 
But Kiev said the cargo would have to be transferred from the Russian trucks to Red Cross vehicles at the border, warning that any unilateral attempt to deliver aid would be viewed as an act of aggression. Russia's Foreign Ministry said the off-loading would cause unnecessary delays and accused Kiev of deliberately slowing the delivery.
 
The Red Cross, meanwhile, said Russia hadn't provided it the necessary information on the shipment or security guarantees.
 
The back-and-forth over the shipment raised fears of new tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
 
Moscow, which has supported the pro-Russia separatists in their four-month-old rebellion, has accused Kiev of not doing enough to ease the suffering of civilians, particularly in the rebel-controlled cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. Top Russian officials have repeatedly raised the latest aid mission in talks with Western counterparts in recent days and the convoy was heavily covered by state television
 
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