Ukraine government repels rebel attack on airport

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By PETER LEONARD and LAURA MILLS

LUHANSK, Ukraine (AP) — A convoy of more than 200 white trucks crossed the Russian border to deliver humanitarian aid to a battered Ukrainian city on Saturday, a move made without Kiev's consent yet met with silence by Ukraine's top leaders.

"Early in the morning, we entered Ukraine to bring aid to Luhansk," said Yury Stepanov, a Russian who was overseeing the convoy. "We came in around 215 vehicles," he added, as workers unloaded boxes into a local warehouse.

The much-needed aid arrived as fighting flared again between pro-Russian rebels and government forces, further imperiling an already fragile cease-fire in the region.

On Saturday, Ukraine's military operation in the east said it had repelled a rebel attack on the government-held airport of Donetsk, which came under artillery fire from rebel positions late on Friday. Ukrainian authorities also admitted for the first time since the cease-fire started last week that they have inflicted casualties on the rebel side.

FULL story at link.



Workers unloading aid cargo delivered from Russia in the town of Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. More than 200 Russian trucks carrying humanitarian supplies entered into Ukraine with supplies for the city of Luhansk, which has for weeks been cut off from electricity and water supplies. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140913/eu--ukraine-54e3362f5e.html

[salib]

1. This article makes no sense.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Yes it does

[pampango]

3. Russian authorities have confirmed the convoy. No mention of Red Cross involvement.

An August agreement between Russia, Ukraine, and the international Red Cross allowed Moscow to bring aid to the region, as long as all vehicles were inspected by Ukrainian border guards and escorted by the ICRC. After two weeks of waiting at the border for all sides to agree, Russia sent the cargo across the border without Kiev's consent.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's observer mission to the Russian-Ukrainian border said Saturday that ed220 trucks cross into Ukraine, none of which were inspected by the Ukrainian side or accompanied by the ICRC.

"We were not officially notified of an agreement between Moscow and Kiev to ship the cargo," Galina Balzamova, a representative of the ICRC's Moscow office, said Saturday.

RT: Russia’s 2nd Ukraine aid convoy of 200 trucks arrives in Lugansk

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) ... is not attending the second, ICRC spokeswoman Anastasia Isyuk told Itar-Tass. “The ICRC has never been officially notified of the agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the achievement of the technical arrangements for this convoy,” she said. “Consequently, the ICRC is not involved in assisting in the delivery of goods.”

http://rt.com/news/187460-russian-aid-convoy-ukraine/

[another_liberal]

4. Here is a little more detail on the relief convoy . . .

This is a story I posted on last evening:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025531602


As to Kiev winning some kind of a victory at the Separatist-surrounded Donetsk international airport: I think that is what they usually say right before another "strategic withdrawal" or acceptance of "safe passage" through Separatist lines. They know they can say most anything and it will be taken as gospel by the Western media, no inconvenient questions will be asked.

[another_liberal]

5. This is an update on the situation at the Donetsk international airport . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025534655

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. Why don't you post the original link so everyone know it's RT?