MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The aid includes food, items of first necessity, medicine, firefighting equipment and textbooks, as well as fictional literature.
"At 04:00 Moscow time [01:00 GMT] over 100 vehicles with humanitarian aid left the Donskoy rescue center of the Emergencies Ministry," a ministry spokesperson said early on Thursday, adding that the convoy is carrying "about 1,200 tonnes [metric tons] of humanitarian cargo" for residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Donbass.
Ukraine’s southeast has been severely affected by Kiev’s special military operation, launched in Donetsk and Lugansk regions in April 2014. The operation was a response to local residents' refusal to recognize the new coup-installed government in the country.
Overall, Russia has delivered more than 61,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s southeast since August 2014.
