Kiev accuses Russia of ‘invasion’ as convoy crosses border

A post on Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko’s website said more than 100 lorries had crossed the border without any checks by Ukrainian customs officials or border guards. Various other sources said between 33 and 90 vehicles had entered Ukraine.

Eye-witnesses from the Reuters news agency said the white-painted trucks were escorted by a small number of separatist fighters. Visible cargoes included tinned food, bottled water, electricity generators and other supplies.

The International Red Cross confirmed that it was not escorting the convoy, as had previously been agreed by Kiev and Moscow, as it had not received enough security guarantees amid continued heavy fighting in the region.

A column of more than 250 trucks had been waiting at the border for over a week, waiting for permission to enter Ukrainian territory.

Russia says the convoy is carrying humanitarian aid for civilians, but the Ukrainian government claims it is manned by Russian soldiers and could be part of a plan to help Russian separatists fighting its forces around the rebel stronghold of Luhansk.

Mr Poroshenko’s website said the entry of the convoy was a violation of international law.

Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security Council, said trucks entered Ukrainian territory through a separatist-controlled border crossing at Izvaryne shortly after midday on Friday (9am local time).

He said: “The movement is taking place without the escort of the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross. This is a breach of the earlier agreement between Russia and Ukraine regarding the inspection of the Russian humanitarian convoy.”

The chief of the Ukrainian Security Service, Valentyn Nalivaychenko, said: “It’s a direct invasion with the cynical use of Red Cross. These are military vehicles. These are servicemen with fake documents. I am using professional language.

“These are servicemen that were trained to be the convoy, were trained to operate military vehicles, tanks and artillery. And thirdly, it may be the first time when this transport will be cynically used for transporting artillery against civilians.”

Mr Nalivaychenko said Ukraine would not target the convoy with air strikes.

Moscow said it had decided to act after losing patience with Kiev’s delays in granting the convoy permission to cross the border.

Fighting in the largely Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk has intensified in recent weeks, with rebels being driven back by Ukrainian forces.

Read more: Channel 4 News on the Ukraine/Russia crisis

Alexander Lukashevich, a spokesman for Russia’s foreign ministry, said: “All excuses to delay sending aid have been exhausted. The Russian side took the decision to act. Our convoy with humanitarian aid starts moving towards Luhansk.

“Of course we are ready for it to be accompanied by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and for them to participate in the aid’s distribution.

“We warn against any attempts to disrupt the purely humanitarian mission which was being prepared for a long time in full transparency and in coordination with the Ukrainian side and the International Committee of the Red Cross.”

Moscow, which has thousands of troops close to the border, did not specify what action it was prepared to take if Kiev’s forces intervened.

Kiev said Ukrainian forces would not attack the convoy and had allowed it to pass to avoid “provocations”.