United Nations, Oct 21 (IANS): The World Food Programme (WFP) began to deliver food to the non-government-controlled areas in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk after a three-month suspension, a UN spokesman said here.

Two truck convoys, carrying enough food for nearly 16,000 people for one month, reached Donetsk in the past five days, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here on Tuesday.

It is the first time that the UN humanitarian aid reached these areas in three months.

"More convoys bringing food are being planned so that the total number of vulnerable people to receive assistance will be 20,000," Xinhua quoted Haq as saying.

"As another winter approaches, the humanitarian community is concerned about the needs of the most vulnerable people, especially those who had to flee their homes," Haq added.

Humanitarian organisations face major challenges in getting access to the most vulnerable of an estimated five million people affected by the conflict that began in the region in April 2014.