Ukraine refused to let a convoy that Russia says is loaded with humanitarian aid enter the country in its current form, arguing the mission doesn't adhere to international rules and must be led by the Red Cross.
Russia's Emergencies Ministry said 280 trucks with 2,000 metric tonnes of donated food, medicine and water left Moscow for rebel-held eastern Ukraine on Tuesday. Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said they are carrying military gear in the guise of aid. The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross said it's not in charge of the convoy at the moment and has asked for details of what it contains.
The ICRC needs "some clarification first regarding modalities, practical steps that have to be implemented prior to launch such an operation," Laurent Corbaz, its head of operations for Europe, said in a video on the Red Cross website. "We seriously need security guarantees, for example, and direct contact with all the parties; this is not settled yet. We need as well to know precisely what is inside the convoy, the size of this convoy, and the various material that is going to be handed over." The wrangling over the aid comes as Ukrainian forces tighten a noose around pro-Russian rebel strongholds in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, where thousands are without water and power. Ukraine blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for stoking a separatist war that has killed more than 1,200 people in the east after annexing the Crimean peninsula in March.
Currency Slumps
Amid the continued tensions, Ukraine's currency, the hryvnia, fell as much as 6.9 percent to a record-low 13.715 per dollar before trading 4.3 percent weaker at 13.4 per dollar. That extended its decline this month to 8.4 percent.
The head of the central bank, Valeriya Gontareva, told lawmakers in Kiev she's planning further active intervention on the currency market, saying the hryvnia dropped after "a mood of panic" spread "because of speculation about the start of a full-scale war." The bank sold $150 million in the past week to bolster the hryvnia, she said. Ukraine's Finance Ministry failed to sell hryvnia- and dollar-denominated notes at an auction today, The Russian ruble dropped 0.6 percent while most Russian stocks fell.
'Act of Aggression'
"Our stance is the following: we are not considering any movement of Russian columns through Ukrainian territory," Valery Chaly, the deputy head of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's administration, said in Kiev. Only trucks owned or rented by the Red Cross will be let in, and any attempt by a military convoy to cross the border will be "an act of aggression," Chaly said.
Russia says the convoy is due to reach the border tonight, according to Corbaz. Russia's Foreign Ministry said on its website the trucks would reach the frontier between Belgorod and the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv -- a point about 700 kilometers (430 miles) by road from Moscow. The convoy will then travel on within Ukraine under ICRC auspices, and Russia is complying with Ukrainian wishes for checks, it said.
"Russia expects the maximum cooperation from Ukraine in ensuring the safe delivery of the humanitarian aid to the residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions," the ministry said.
'Constant Contact'
The Red Cross is "in constant contact" with Ukrainian and Russian authorities, Corbaz said. "They know our requirements; we are waiting for their feedback." Russian television broadcast footage of white trucks labeled "humanitarian aid" setting off. The Emergencies Ministry sent the aid in coordination with the Moscow regional administration, spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said by phone. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said yesterday the army wouldn't be involved, the RIA Novosti news service reported.
The convoy "will be traveling for several days," Drobyshevsky said, according to news service Itar-Tass. "The destination where the humanitarian aid is to be handed over to residents of Ukraine will be decided with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Ukrainian side." The Red Cross will conduct an evaluation of what people in the conflict zone need that may take a week, Lysenko said. "The humanitarian mission will be undertaken after this evaluation," he told reporters in Kiev.
'International Rules'
"There are international rules for providing humanitarian aid," Alla Khabarova, the head of the Red Cross in Ukraine, said by phone. "They should have done it via the Russian Red Cross and via us and provided a list of what aid is provided and who is accompanying it. All military action, all shooting, has to be ended." Ukraine has been joined by the U.S. and the European Union in warning Russia not to use aid as a pretext for military intervention. The Red Cross says it can't accept military protection for aid operations.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande discussed Ukraine in a phone call today and agreed on the need for a "genuinely humanitarian" aid mission, Merkel's office said in an e-mailed statement.
Ukraine's military said yesterday it's near the end of its operation to surround the remaining separatist strongholds and called on civilians to leave Donetsk and Luhansk. Encirclement of the rebels would shut off routes to the Russian border and sever their supply lines. The Defense Ministry said on Facebook today that government forces retook control of three villages and "neutralized" a group of 30 rebels.
Power Cut
The fighting is causing havoc in the residential areas where it's now concentrated. Luhansk, where about half of the 500,000 population remains, is completely isolated, with electricity cut off in the center and people without phone connections, food, medication or fuel, the city council said on its website. Many residents have had no power for three weeks and most shops are closed.
Seven civilians were wounded after shelling and shooting in Donetsk overnight, the city council said.
Ukraine's parliament approved a bill on imposing sanctions against Russian companies and people in the first reading today. Lawmakers will meet again on Aug. 14. The government in Moscow responded to sanctions last week by banning Ukrainian, American and EU food imports.
Ukraine, which stopped receiving Russian gas in June while acting as a conduit for supplies to Europe, may impose a "complete or partial" ban on energy shipments from its neighbor, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said last week.
