Why has it taken so long for the Russian aid to get to those in urgent need in Ukraine? Because the Ukrainians have caused unnecessary delays. The Red Cross said the convoy may finally start moving today towards their final destination - Ukaine's Lugansk region.
Four Russian vehicles have already got the 'all clear' from customs and are now being process by Ukrainian custom officials at the Izvarino checkpoint.
Russia thanked the Red Cross for its participation and asked both sides to stop fighting long enough for the convoy to get through. "We suggest that the UN Security Council adopts a statement on the issue" the ministry said.
Moscow has repeatedly denied Western allegations that its humanitarian aid mission was some sort of covert invasion of Ukraine and accusations kept coming even after the Red Cross and Kiev had given it the all clear.
“As multiple checks of vehicles revealed, there isn’t any undeclared cargo carried by the convoy and it will not be accompanied by the military when traveling in the Ukrainian territory,” Russia’s deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said.
Every day, the city of Lugansk is being bombed by the Ukrainian military and most of the people have fled, but the elderly, the sick and those with nowhere else to go are taking shelter in the basements of bombed-out buildings.
So the reason the humanitarian aid hasn't reached those who desperately need it is because Ukrainian authorities kept postponing the process, fearing a Russian invasion. And it now appears clear that their suspicions were groundless.
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