MOSCOW, March 25 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Emergencies Ministry humanitarian convoy arrived Saturday in Transdnestr, a breakaway region in Moldova, the ministry said.
"The convoy passed the Ukrainian-Moldovan border at 11.00 a.m. Moscow time [8.00 a.m. GMT]," the ministry said.
The convoy is expected to arrive in Tiraspol, the capital of Transdnestr, at 2.00 p.m. (11.00 a.m. GMT).
Russia sent the humanitarian aid to Transdnestr after the local authorities reported huge economic losses and said the republic was facing a humanitarian catastrophe following the imposition of new customs regulations by Ukraine at Moldova's request.
Yury Brazhnikov, head of the Emergency Situations Ministry's international department, said earlier that the Russian convoy had stopped for a break about 40 miles away from the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and criticized Ukraine for making traveling conditions more difficult.
Ukraine imposed stricter regulations on the Russian convoy Thursday, insisting that its route be changed, that Russian symbols be removed, and that it travel only at night.
The convoy had retained all its state symbols, in accordance with the Geneva Convention, Brazhnikov said.
The new customs regulations in Transdnestr require all goods from the region bound for Ukraine to have an official Moldovan stamp. Some Russian politicians have said the new regulations amount to an economic blockade of the region.
