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Russian convoy returns to Rostov Region after delivering aid to Donbass

More than 120 trucks as part of the 11th Russian humanitarian convoy have delivered to Donetsk and Lugansk over 1,400 tonnes of humanitarian aid

© Valery Matytsin/TASS

MOSCOW, January 9. /TASS/. Russia’s 11th humanitarian convoy has arrived to Rostov Region after delivering aid to Donbass, in eastern Ukraine, a deputy head of the Emergencies Ministry’s national crisis management centre said on Friday.

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“More than 120 trucks, which delivered over 1,400 tonnes of humanitarian cargo to Donetsk and Lugansk, have returned empty to Rostov Region. So, another stage of providing Donbass with humanitarian aid has been successfully completed,” Oleg Voronov said.

All the trucks have undergone customs and border control at the checkpoints of Donetsk and Matveyev Kurgan. The process was monitored by Ukraine’s customs officers and the representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission.

The official said this time the delivery of humanitarian aid was hampered by severe weather conditions, namely heavy frost and glaze ice, due to which the journey lasted longer than expected.

“This was in fact the biggest convoy with foodstuffs. Volunteers and storage workers had to unload sacks with grain, sugar, flour as well as boxes with canned goods manually,” he said.

The trucks have delivered New Year gifts for children, including toys, sweets, and foodstuffs - canned meat, fish and milk products, baby food, grain, pasta - and medicines. The aid will be distributed at schools, kindergartens, canteens, hospitals and other social facilities.

Russia’s Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov said earlier the ministry was ready to form the 12th convoy with humanitarian aid for Donbass if needed.

Since August 2014, Russia has delivered more than 14,500 tonnes of humanitarian cargo to the conflict-hit region.

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Ukraine crisis Eastern Ukraine

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