EMERCOM Says 12th Donbas Humanitarian Aid Convoy on Its Way to the Border

The press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry announced that Russia's 12th humanitarian aid convoy to the war-torn Donbas region of Ukraine is on its way to the border.

MOSCOW, January 31 (Sputnik) —  Russia's 12th humanitarian aid convoy to the Donbas region is on the way to the Ukrainian border, the press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry said Saturday.

"At 4:00 a.m. Moscow time (1:00 a.m. GMT) the convoy left the Don rescue center of Russian Emergencies Ministry and began moving towards the international border. The convoy is comprised of over 170 vehicles, carrying more than 1,500 metric tons of humanitarian goods," the Ministry said.

The cargo includes foodstuffs, medicines, essentials and construction materials.

On Friday, Emergencies Ministry announced that the 12th humanitarian aid convoy had been formed.

Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk have been suffering from a severe humanitarian crisis since April of last year, when Kiev launched a military operation against local independence supporters.

Fighting in the Donbas region intensified in the first weeks of January, as residents of Donetsk and Mariupol, another major southeastern Ukrainian city, came under deadly shelling.