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Russian Aid Convoy Without Consent Deemed Invasion by Ukraine
By Jake Rudnitsky, Daryna Krasnolutska and Patrick Donahue Aug 22, 2014 9:43 PM GMT+0530
Trucks carrying what Russia says is humanitarian aid reached the embattled Ukrainian city of Luhansk, the RIA Novosti news service said, after they crossed the border in what the government in Kiev denounced as an “invasion.”
Russia was invading under the cover of the convoy, Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, the head of Ukraine’s security council, said on TV5. More than 200 trucks entered the country without a Red Cross escort through a border checkpoint in a rebel-held area and headed for Luhansk, according to a Bloomberg reporter on the scene.
“We call this direct invasion,” Nalyvaychenko said. “We are witnessing a clearly planned and dangerous provocation against Ukraine, with the cynical use of the well-respected Red Cross.”
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Tensions are spiking between Russia and Ukraine, which has been on the offensive against pro-Russian separatists in the country’s easternmost regions. Russia, which Ukraine and its allies blame for stoking the insurgency, dispatched the convoy containing food and other supplies last week. The trucks had been parked near the two nations’ border awaiting clearance to proceed.
Chancellor Merkel
“Western governments have their own ways of figuring out the extent of what happened today, but what they don’t know is the implications,” said Samuel Charap, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Washington.
A man waves a Russian national flag as the Russian convoy crosses the Russian-Ukrainian... Read More
Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to visit Kiev, where officials are looking to Germany to provide leadership out of the conflict with the Russia. Merkel plans to meet with President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk tomorrow.
The first of the trucks arrived in Luhansk before 4:30 p.m. Kiev time, Russian state-run RIA Novosti said, citing pro-Russian separatists.
Yatsenyuk called the convoy a “farce,” not humanitarian aid, in an interview with local television channels. The European Union, in a statement issued in Brussels, said Russia’s dispatch of the convoy without Red Cross escort or Ukraine’s approval “is a clear violation of the Ukrainian border.”
EU Deplores
“We deplore Russia’s decision,” the EU said, urging Russia to reverse course.
Ukraine has been fractured by fighting that’s erupted since Russia annexed Crimea in March. Russia denies it’s involved in the conflict, which has triggered sanctions from the U.S. and Europe.
“We consider this act of the Russian Federation to be in violation of key principles of international law, including the integrity of borders and the non-interference in domestic issues of other countries,” the Foreign Ministry in Kiev said. “We call on our international partners to condemn the Russian Federation over these illegal and aggressive acts.”
A driver installs a red flag on his lorry, parked with other lorries of the Russian... Read More
The hryvnia extended its fifth weekly depreciation and Ukrainian bonds fell. The currency slumped 2.5 percent to 13.55 per dollar by 4:43 p.m. in Kiev, within 0.17 hryvnia of a record low reached on Aug. 12.
The yield on the sovereign dollar-denominated debt maturing in July 2017 rose 22 basis points, or 0.22 percentage point, to a one-week high of 10.21 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Red Cross
Russia isn’t planning to invade Ukraine under the cover of the convoy, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said after a meeting with Laurent Corbaz, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross’s operations in Europe, according to the ministry’s website. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow reiterated a call for a cease-fire to facilitate the delivery of aid and proposed a United Nations Security Council statement on the truce, it said on its website.
“Because of the complicated security situation, we’re not accompanying the convoy,” Galina Balzamova, an ICRC spokeswoman, said by phone. “There was military activity in the area all night. We don’t think we’ve received sufficient security guarantees. The convoy is moving, but we’re not accompanying it.”
The Russian president’s office said in a statement on its website that it gave Ukraine a detailed explanation of the aid convoy.
Rebel Mortars
Ukraine previously said it had taken all the necessary steps possible to ensure the safety of the convoy’s route, warning that rebels were using mortars along the way. Nalyvaychenko said that the cargo may be headed to the separatist fighters, rather than civilians, and the trucks could later be used to transport weapons.
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow earlier accused its neighbor of deliberately delaying the deliveries, saying in a statement that the government in Kiev is seeking victory over separatists by Ukraine’s Aug. 24 Independence Day.
“We warn against any attempts to halt the solely humanitarian mission that was prepared transparently with cooperation from Ukraine and the Red Cross,” the ministry said.
Fighting continued in Ukraine’s easternmost regions. Government troops killed more than 100 rebels and destroyed 11 Grad multiple rocket systems overnight, the Ukrainian military said today on its Facebook account. There were battles in six towns, while the separatists attacked nine checkpoints, it said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jake Rudnitsky in Rostov region, Russia atjrudnitsky@bloomberg.net; Daryna Krasnolutska in Kiev at dkrasnolutsk@bloomberg.net; Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net Kevin Costelloe, Michael Winfrey
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