Russian convoy has Moscow, Kiev closer to confrontation

MOSCOW — A Russian aid convoy struck a new course toward rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, apparently flouting Ukrainian demands that all humanitarian shipments be subject to government inspections and prompting Kiev to threaten a direct confrontation if the convoy tries to pass through.

“Any attempt to introduce any convoy without the agreement of Ukraine will be considered an open aggression,” Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters in Kiev. “The entire world will consider them direct aggressors.”

It is the second time in less than a week tensions between Ukraine and Russia have flared over the convoy, which Ukrainian authorities refused to allow through a government-controlled border crossing in the Kharkiv region earlier this week.

Early Thursday, the vehicles — which had been idling at a military depot — set off on their journey south through Russian territory along a highway leading from Moscow through areas abutting Ukraine’s eastern regions. By afternoon, the convoy had taken a sharp turn westward and was headed directly for the Izvarino border crossing in the Luhansk region, which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Russian officials have maintained that the convoy of more than 250 trucks is a humanitarian mission, intended to provide the beleaguered civilians of war-torn Luhansk with food, blankets and other emergency supplies. But Ukrainian officials fear that Russia might use the mission as a Trojan Horse to launch a full-scale invasion of eastern Ukraine.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko agreed to let Russian and European aid be sent to Luhansk under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Russia dispatched the convoy hours later, saying it was cooperating with the ICRC and complying with the agreement. But Ukrainian and ICRC authorities said they had never certified the shipment.