Ninth humanitarian convoy readying to leave Rostov region for Donbas

A truck convoy carrying humanitarian aid for Donbas is preparing to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border in the town of Kovalevka near Rostov-on-Don, a source in the southern regional center of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry told Interfax on Thursday.

"Humanitarian trucks are parked on the premises of the Don Rescue Center in the town of Kovalevka. They are preparing to cross the state border," the source said.

The convoy from the Moscow region crossed the checkpoint of the Don Rescue Center late on Wednesday night.

Earlier reports said 40 humanitarian trucks departed from Noginsk in the Moscow region on December 9.

This is just a part of the humanitarian convoy for Donbas to be formed in the Rostov region. "Humanitarian trucks are also headed to the Rostov region from Astrakhan, Tver, Taganrog, Krasnodar, Voronezh and other regions," Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said.

The convoy will comprise over 120 trucks, which will bring more than 1,200 tonnes of food and prime necessities to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, he said.

This is to be the ninth humanitarian convoy for Donbas. Eight convoys have delivered more than 10,700 tonnes of humanitarian cargo to Donetsk and Luhansk since August 11.