Russia to Send New Humanitarian Convoy to Donbass- Emergencies Ministry

Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has started to form its 32nd aid convoy to Ukraine’s southeast, where the armed conflict between Kiev and local independence supporters caused a humanitarian crisis.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the ministry, more vehicles from other regions will join the convoy in the Rostov region before heading to Donbass with humanitarian aid — mainly food and medicine.

"Today at 5:00 a.m. Moscow time [02:00 GMT] cargo vehicles, which will be part of another humanitarian aid for the civilians in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, left the Noginsky rescue center of Russia's Emergencies Ministry for the Rostov region," the ministry’s spokesman told RIA Novosti on Sunday.

Earlier, Russian Minister of Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov said that the 32nd aid convoy will leave on July 16.

Overall, Russia has sent more than 39,000 metric tons of aid to Donbass since August 2014.

The region has been severely affected by fighting between Kiev forces and independence supporters, which started in April, 2014. Donbas residents have also been suffering from an economic blockade imposed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Donetsk and Luhansk in November, 2014.