Kiev, Aug 12 (IANS): The representatives of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will escort Russia's humanitarian convoy to eastern Ukraine, former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma said Tuesday.
"The assistance will be carried out under aegis of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the aid convoy will be accompanied by the representatives of the OSCE," Kuchma, who is mediating the ongoing crisis, was quoted by Interfax-Ukraine news agency as saying, Xinhua reported.
He said the convoy from Russia en route to the rebel-held eastern Lugansk city will cross the border in the government-controlled Kharkov region.
The aid will be distributed by the ICRC office in Ukraine to the civilians in the restive regions, Kuchma said, adding that the bulk of the emergency supply will be delivered to hospitals, kindergartens, orphanages and other social welfare institutions.
Earlier, Russia's state media reported that 280 trucks carrying around 2,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid have left Moscow for crisis-hit eastern Ukraine.
Most of the humanitarian supplies were food, medical equipment, medicine, sleeping bags and portable power stations of various capacities.
International aiding groups said the prolonged violence in eastern Ukraine is pushing Donetsk and Lugansk regions toward a humanitarian crisis, as people are suffer from shortage of food, medicine, water and electricity supply.
At least 1,500 have died and over 285,000 were displaced since Kiev started military operations to retake the cities seized by the independence-seeking insurgents in mid-April.