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| Confusion and Alarm as Russian Aid Convoy Heads to Ukraine | Confusion and Alarm as Russian Aid Convoy Heads to Ukraine |
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| MOSCOW — Confusion enveloped the advance of an enormous Russian aid convoy toward southeastern Ukraine on Wednesday, with numerous news outlets reporting that it had been halted at a military base in the southern Russian city of Voronezh. | MOSCOW — Confusion enveloped the advance of an enormous Russian aid convoy toward southeastern Ukraine on Wednesday, with numerous news outlets reporting that it had been halted at a military base in the southern Russian city of Voronezh. |
| At the very least, the two countries seemed headed toward a standoff, with Russia saying it still expected the hundreds of trucks to be allowed across the border, while Ukraine vowed that they would be barred. | |
| Amid the uncertainty, there was no clear statement from Russia about where the trucks were headed, and rumors began to fly that they would bypass the original point of entry, the Shebekino crossing, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, and head farther south to an area closer to Luhansk, where Russia exerts more control. | Amid the uncertainty, there was no clear statement from Russia about where the trucks were headed, and rumors began to fly that they would bypass the original point of entry, the Shebekino crossing, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, and head farther south to an area closer to Luhansk, where Russia exerts more control. |
| That would raise the possibility of the trucks entering the country against the express warnings of Kiev and without the contents being examined by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which Russia has pledged to have oversee the aid delivery. | That would raise the possibility of the trucks entering the country against the express warnings of Kiev and without the contents being examined by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which Russia has pledged to have oversee the aid delivery. |
| Despite statements to the contrary from the International Red Cross, the Russian government maintained that the convoy was still working under the umbrella of the organization and that it was still heading to Ukraine — although where exactly it would not say. | |
| “It is moving in the territory of the Russian Federation; it is still moving,” Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin, told Russian reporters. “All this is going on in complete coordination with and under the aegis of the Red Cross.” | |
| The dispute over the convoy comes as Kiev is bearing down militarily on the separatist rebels, forcing them into the region’s two major cities, Donetsk and Luhansk. Kiev and the West accuse the Russians of sponsoring, supplying and covertly directing the rebels. | The dispute over the convoy comes as Kiev is bearing down militarily on the separatist rebels, forcing them into the region’s two major cities, Donetsk and Luhansk. Kiev and the West accuse the Russians of sponsoring, supplying and covertly directing the rebels. |
| Shelling there and elsewhere in the region by the Ukrainian forces has taken a heavy toll on civilians, with the death toll in the war doubling in the last week to more than 2,000, the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported on Wednesday. | Shelling there and elsewhere in the region by the Ukrainian forces has taken a heavy toll on civilians, with the death toll in the war doubling in the last week to more than 2,000, the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported on Wednesday. |
| Conditions in Luhansk, under siege by Ukrainian government forces, are particularly dire. City officials said Tuesday that its 250,000 residents had been living without power, water and a sewage system since Aug. 3, and that only essential food was available. | Conditions in Luhansk, under siege by Ukrainian government forces, are particularly dire. City officials said Tuesday that its 250,000 residents had been living without power, water and a sewage system since Aug. 3, and that only essential food was available. |
| Both Kiev and its Western allies have warned that the Russian aid convoy was just a ploy to get much-needed military assistance to rebel fighters in Luhansk, who are running low on ammunition. Western leaders have also voiced concerns about Moscow using the convoy and the humanitarian crisis in Luhansk as a pretext for invading southeastern Ukraine. | Both Kiev and its Western allies have warned that the Russian aid convoy was just a ploy to get much-needed military assistance to rebel fighters in Luhansk, who are running low on ammunition. Western leaders have also voiced concerns about Moscow using the convoy and the humanitarian crisis in Luhansk as a pretext for invading southeastern Ukraine. |
| But for the moment, the 260 or so trucks in the convoy appeared to be idling at a military base in Voronezh, about 200 miles east of the Ukrainian border. They had stopped for the night there after leaving Moscow early Tuesday morning. | But for the moment, the 260 or so trucks in the convoy appeared to be idling at a military base in Voronezh, about 200 miles east of the Ukrainian border. They had stopped for the night there after leaving Moscow early Tuesday morning. |
| The Russian Foreign Ministry would confirm only that the trucks were still headed to the border, without saying where or when they would arrive. But state-run Rossiya 24 television reported that the Shebekino crossing was still the destination. | The Russian Foreign Ministry would confirm only that the trucks were still headed to the border, without saying where or when they would arrive. But state-run Rossiya 24 television reported that the Shebekino crossing was still the destination. |
| On Tuesday, Russia insisted that it had reached an agreement that the aid would go through, while Ukraine, seeming to wake up late to the theatrical gesture of having nearly 300 aid trucks rolling toward its frontier, began scrambling to show that it too planned to organize aid for the beleaguered civilians in Donetsk and Luhansk. | On Tuesday, Russia insisted that it had reached an agreement that the aid would go through, while Ukraine, seeming to wake up late to the theatrical gesture of having nearly 300 aid trucks rolling toward its frontier, began scrambling to show that it too planned to organize aid for the beleaguered civilians in Donetsk and Luhansk. |
| Presuming the convoy does end up at the Shebekino crossing in Kharkiv, there were still issues to be worked through. Both Russia and Ukraine said they were expecting the International Committee of the Red Cross to handle the logistics of the delivery, but officials from the international organization said that the two governments had to agree first on the inspection of the goods and their transfer — if indeed they are transferred — to other vehicles for transport to Luhansk. | Presuming the convoy does end up at the Shebekino crossing in Kharkiv, there were still issues to be worked through. Both Russia and Ukraine said they were expecting the International Committee of the Red Cross to handle the logistics of the delivery, but officials from the international organization said that the two governments had to agree first on the inspection of the goods and their transfer — if indeed they are transferred — to other vehicles for transport to Luhansk. |
| “The Russians and the Ukrainians have not agreed on the first step,” Pascale Cuttat, the head of the Red Cross delegation in Moscow, said in an interview. Once the aid material had been inspected and cleared for entry into Ukraine, the Red Cross could take responsibility for it, he said. | “The Russians and the Ukrainians have not agreed on the first step,” Pascale Cuttat, the head of the Red Cross delegation in Moscow, said in an interview. Once the aid material had been inspected and cleared for entry into Ukraine, the Red Cross could take responsibility for it, he said. |
| That could take time, depending on whether the inspection involved X-rays or hand inspections. Agreement had to be reached on questions like whether in a grain shipment every bag would be inspected, he said. | That could take time, depending on whether the inspection involved X-rays or hand inspections. Agreement had to be reached on questions like whether in a grain shipment every bag would be inspected, he said. |
| But the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, has already rejected the idea of unloading the goods as impractical and too costly. | But the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, has already rejected the idea of unloading the goods as impractical and too costly. |
| Mr. Cuttat said it did not matter if the two sides agreed to use the same trucks, different trucks or railroad cars, the point was that the shipment had to clear the border before his organization could start the operation to distribute it. | Mr. Cuttat said it did not matter if the two sides agreed to use the same trucks, different trucks or railroad cars, the point was that the shipment had to clear the border before his organization could start the operation to distribute it. |
| Officials from both governments said consultations between the foreign ministries was continuing by telephone, as well as through the International Red Cross headquarters in Geneva. | Officials from both governments said consultations between the foreign ministries was continuing by telephone, as well as through the International Red Cross headquarters in Geneva. |
| Senior Ukrainian officials, convinced that the convoy is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, were adamant that no aid would cross the border from Russia into Ukraine on the same trucks that brought the goods from Moscow. | Senior Ukrainian officials, convinced that the convoy is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, were adamant that no aid would cross the border from Russia into Ukraine on the same trucks that brought the goods from Moscow. |
| In Kiev, Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk told a cabinet meeting that any foreign aid could be received only and exclusively from the Red Cross and under the umbrella of international law. | |
| The interior minister, Arsen Avakov, was more vehement: “A provocation by the cynical aggressor on our territory is unacceptable,” he said in a post on his Facebook page that he said was an official statement. Ukrainians maintain that if Russia was really worried about the humanitarian situation it would rein in the separatists. | |
| There were also statements by other Ukrainian officials saying they were organizing relief convoys. Igor Shvayka, the agriculture minister, for example, said Ukraine would send a convoy of food trucks to Luhansk from Kiev on Thursday. | There were also statements by other Ukrainian officials saying they were organizing relief convoys. Igor Shvayka, the agriculture minister, for example, said Ukraine would send a convoy of food trucks to Luhansk from Kiev on Thursday. |
| Russian officials, echoing statements by Mr. Lavrov a day earlier, emphasized on Wednesday that Ukraine had earlier accepted to take the convoy under International Red Cross supervision. They said they hoped the agreement could still be implemented by the time the trucks reached the border. | |
| The convoy was carrying about 2,000 metric tons of supplies including 400 tons of cereals, 100 tons of sugar, 62 tons of baby food, 54 tons of medical supplies, 12,300 sleeping bags and 69 generators of various sizes, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said. | The convoy was carrying about 2,000 metric tons of supplies including 400 tons of cereals, 100 tons of sugar, 62 tons of baby food, 54 tons of medical supplies, 12,300 sleeping bags and 69 generators of various sizes, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said. |
| Since the conflict erupted in March, Russia has argued that Kiev does not respect the needs or interests of the mainly Russian speaking population of southeastern Ukraine, and the confrontation over the aid convoy served to confirm Moscow’s point. | Since the conflict erupted in March, Russia has argued that Kiev does not respect the needs or interests of the mainly Russian speaking population of southeastern Ukraine, and the confrontation over the aid convoy served to confirm Moscow’s point. |