Alexey Koverznev/Reuters
"Russian customs officers and border guards completed processing the first group of trucks... Now all 35 trucks have left the border crossing point towards Ukraine," Rayan Farukshin, spokesman for the southern customs office, told the RIA Novosti news agency.
Alexey Koverznev/Reuters
Rossiya 24 television reported that the whole convoy of more than 300 trucks was due to reach the border by Saturday morning.
Moscow said the convoy moved in without Kiev's permission because civilians within the area are in urgent need of food, water, and other supplies.
The second convoy comes after the U.S. and EU announced a new round of sanctions targeted at Moscow's financial sectors as well as
On August 22nd, Russia sent an aid convoy of more than 200 trucks without the final agreement of Ukraine and its Western allies.
The Minsk accord signed a week ago specified the provision of humanitarian aid to east Ukraine where hundreds of thousands of residents are suffering from shortages of basic supplies as well as a lack of running water and power amid widespread destruction from heavy shelling.