Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘direct invasion’

About 60 trucks forming part of a Russian aid convoy parked in a field about 7 kilometres from a border control point with Ukraine in the Russian town of Donetsk. AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin Source: AP

UKRAINE'S security chief has accused Russia of a "direct invasion" after Moscow sent a disputed aid convoy into the war-torn east of the country.

"We are saying that this is a direct invasion. Under the cynical guise of the Red Cross these are military vehicles," Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, the head of Ukraine's SBU security agency, was quoted as saying by Interfax Ukraine news agency on Friday.

Another security official said that Moscow was "exclusively responsible" for the security of the convoy as it crosses rebel-held territory.

Russia has pushed the first trucks of a massive aid convoy into war-torn eastern Ukraine on Friday after saying it was tired of reassuring Kiev that it was not being used to smuggle in weapons to pro-Kremlin insurgents.

"We can no longer stand this outrage, these open-faced lies and (Kiev's) refusal to reach an agreement. Russia has decided to act," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Direct invasion? A driver sets straight the flag of the Moscow region on one of the trucks of the aid convoy on Wednesday. AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin Source: AP

"Our humanitarian aid column is starting to move in the direction of Lugansk," it said in reference to the devastated eastern Ukrainian city that has suffered some of the most severe recent fighting, and has been cut off from water and power supplies for nearly three weeks.

The decision appeared to have also been taken without the authorisation of an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team that is overseeing the diplomatically-charged mission.

The Red Cross said on Friday its representatives were not escorting a Russian aid convoy that entered war-torn eastern Ukraine as they had not received "sufficient security guarantees". "We are not a part of the convoy in any way," Victoria Zotikova, a spokeswoman for the ICRC in Moscow said.

A paramedic carries boxes containing Russian humanitarian aid at the emergency centre in the city of Makeyevka, in the Donetsk region, on August 21, 2014. AFP PHOTO / MAX VETROV Source: AFP

Ms Zotikova added that the organisation had not been given "sufficient security guarantees by the fighting parties" after a small team of ICRC officials reported heavy shelling overnight in the rebel-held bastion of Lugansk where the Russian trucks are heading.

An AFP photographer at the border said the first 10 Russian trucks had crossed the frontier and reached the Izvaryne customs point inside Ukraine.

It was not immediately clear when or if the vehicles would be allowed to move any further. An unconfirmed report by Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency said a few of the trucks had already left the Ukrainian checkpoint and started to drive towards Lugansk.

Trucks of the Russian aid convoy are searched at a Russian inspection zone inside a border control point with Ukraine in the Russian town of Donetsk. AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin Source: AP

Several of the nearly 300 vehicles had been cleared by both countries' customs authorities on Thursday and were waiting for the green light to enter Ukraine from the ICRC.

Ukraine has expressed repeated fears that Russian may be using the vehicles to smuggle in weapons to separatist rebels who have been battling government forces for more than four months.

A local resident holds a Russian national flag as lorries, part of a Russian humanitarian convoy cross the Ukrainian border at the Izvarino custom control checkpoint on Friday. AFP PHOTO / SERGEY VENYAVSKY Source: AFP

The ICRC meanwhile said it would not launch the aid delivery mission until it receives firm security assurances from both Kiev and the insurgents that the convoy will not be attacked.

The Russian foreign ministry appeared to suggest that Moscow has decided to act even without the Red Cross's permission.

"We of course are ready to have (the convoy) accompanied by the ICRC, and for its involvement in aid distribution," it said. It charged that Kiev was presenting a growing number of "new and artificial demands and pretexts, which is turning into a mockery". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin was aware of the convoy's movements but could not confirm if the Russian president himself had issued the order for the trucks to cross into Ukraine.

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