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              Russian Truck Convoy Begins Leaving Eastern Ukraine

   by Meredith Buel, Gabe Joselow

   Several trucks from a Russian convoy that passed into Ukraine without
   permission from Kyiv have returned back across the border into Russia.

   Witnesses said Saturday other trucks from the more than 220 vehicles
   that entered Ukraine Friday are arriving at the border, preparing to
   re-enter Russia.  It is not clear if the trucks are carrying any cargo.

   On Friday, White House officials said Russia's unauthorized movement of
   the humanitarian truck convoy into Ukraine is a flagrant violation of
   Ukraine's sovereignty.

   U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said Russia must
   remove the convoy from eastern Ukraine or face consequences.  He said
   the United States plans to discuss the situation at the U.N. Security
   Council.

   U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also voiced concern about the
   convoy's movement, saying any unilateral action has the potential of
   exacerbating an already dangerous situation in eastern Ukraine.

   U.S Defense Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters the U.S. is
   very concerned about the trucks crossing the Ukrainian border.

   "We strongly condemn this action and any actions that Russian forces
   take that increase tensions in the region," he said. "Russia should not
   send vehicles, persons or cargo of any kind into Ukraine, whether under
   the guise of humanitarian convoys or any other pretext, without Kyiv's
   express permission."

   Kirby stopped short of calling the move an invasion, but said it
   amounts to a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial
   integrity.

   "Russia must remove its vehicles and its personnel from the territory
   of Ukraine immediately. Failure to do so will result in additional
   costs and isolation," he said.

   Kirby said the U.S. is consulting with international partners to
   determine the next steps. He also expressed concern about what he said
   were more than 10,000 Russian troops along the border with Ukraine.

   "They are, as I've described before, combined arms capable: armor,
   artillery, infantry, air defense. They're very ready. They're very
   capable. They're very mobile. And they continue to do nothing but just
   increase the tension on the other side with Ukraine," he said.

   Kirby said Russia is continuing to support the separatists in Ukraine
   with heavy weapons, including tanks, artillery and air defense systems.

   Watch related video report by VOA's Zlatica Hoke

   Mobile convoy

   The first trucks in a Russian convoy reportedly carrying humanitarian
   aid crossed Friday into Ukraine and arrived in the besieged city of
   Luhansk, officials said, in a dangerously provocative move that Kyiv
   had warned would be tantamount to invasion.

   The arrival of the convoy, which had been stalled across the border in
   Russia for weeks while officials negotiated terms for allowing it to
   enter, put Ukraine and Russia on the verge of all-out war.

   The first of the 260 trucks began crossing the border earlier Friday
   and Russian and Western news reports said some of the trucks had
   reached Luhansk by late afternoon.

   Kyiv and many Western officials had suspected that Moscow could use the
   convoy as a pretext for an invasion. Russia's Foreign Ministry said in
   a statement Friday that all excuses for the convoys' delay had been
   exhausted.

   Rising tensions

   NATO, meanwhile, warned that Russian artillery was being used against
   Ukrainian troops, from across the border and from within Ukraine and
   large numbers of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and artillery were
   being shipped to rebels.

   In New York, Russia's United Nations ambassador, Vitaly Churkin,
   challenged the claims of a Russian military presence in Ukrainian
   territory. "They need to provide proof," he said.

   Ukrainian condemnation
   President Petro Poroshenko also called the move a violation of
   international law, while the chief of Ukraine's lead security agency,
   Valentyn Nalivaychenko, condemned Moscow for ordering the trucks into
   Ukrainian territory before they were inspected and approved.

   The Red Cross said it was not escorting the convoy because it had not
   received security guarantees. The organization said its team in Luhansk
   reported heavy shelling overnight.

   "The Russian aid convoy is moving into Ukraine, but we are not
   escorting it due to the volatile security situation,'' the Red Cross
   said in a posting on Twitter.

   UN Secretary-General statement

   A spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Ban "follows with
   deep concern reports that a Russian aid convoy has crossed the border
   into Ukraine without the permission of the Ukrainian authorities. While
   recognising the deteriorating humanitarian situation, any unilateral
   action has the potential of exacerbating an already dangerous situation
   in eastern Ukraine."

   The Secretary-General is urging all sides, especially Ukraine and the
   Russian Federation, to continue to work together, along with the
   international community, to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches
   the most affected areas. He reiterates that all sides should continue
   to exercise maximum restraint and avoid escalation.

   The statement went on to say Ban is encouraged by the announcement from
   Poroshenko that Ukraine "will do everything possible to prevent more
   serious consequences as a result of the convoy moving into Ukrainian
   territory."

   Washington reaction

   In Washington, Benjamin Rhodes, the White House deputy national
   security adviser, said Russia must remove the convoy from Ukrainian
   territory and said the United States would bring the subject for
   discussion at the United Nations Security Council.

   "If Russia really wants to ease the humanitarian situation in eastern
   Ukraine, it could do so today by halting its supply of weapons,
   equipment, and fighters to its proxies," National Security Council
   spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a strongly worded statement. "We
   condemn this action by Russia, for which it will bear additional
   consequences. "

   Defense Department spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby earlier said that the
   estimated 10,000 Russian troops stationed at the Ukrainian border
   remain "very ready, very capable, and very mobile."

   NATO warns of Russian artillery

   The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, urged
   Russia to reverse its decision. NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen
   accused Moscow of escalating the crisis.

   "It can only deepen the crisis in the region, which Russia itself has
   created and has continued to fuel," he said in a statement.

   Rasmussen also said that NATO had also seen transfers of large
   quantities of advanced weapons, including tanks, armored personnel
   carriers, and artillery to separatists.

   "Moreover, NATO is observing an alarming build-up of Russian ground and
   air forces in the vicinity of Ukraine," Rasmussen said.

   Moscow's decision
   For weeks, Moscow had insisted that Luhansk was suffering a
   humanitarian catastrophe. The Ukrainian military had pounded rebel
   positions in and around the city, and earlier this week, had even
   managed to enter and raise a Ukrainian flag over one administration
   building.

   The trucks in the convoy were reported to be carrying food, water,
   generators, and sleeping bags, but Western reporters who inspected the
   trucks said many were only partially full.

   On Thursday, Ukrainian officials said border guards had begun checking
   convoy but it was unclear how many trucks they managed to inspect.

   Nalivaychenko on Friday alleged that the convoy was actually made up of
   military vehicles driven by members of the Russian military, using fake
   documents, and that the drivers were trained to operate military
   vehicles, tanks and artillery.

   Earlier in the week, Ukrainian troops reclaimed control of the nearby
   town of Ilovaysk, after heavy fighting with separatists. The town is
   strategically important because of its roads and rail line.Troops have
   also surrounded much of Donetsk, the largest city in the region.

   In an interview televised Friday, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said
   Russia's actions showed that it could not accept Ukraine's moves toward
   integration with Europe.

   "Nothing will stop us. We have taken that decision. We are part of
   Europe. That is where we are going,'' he said.

   Belarus meeting
   Poroshenko had been set to attend a meeting next week with his Russian
   counterpart and others in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

   If it takes place, the August 26 meeting would place the two leaders in
   the same room for the first time since a brief encounter in France in
   June.

   Over 2,000 soldiers, rebels, and civilians have been killed since the
   fighting broke out in April.

   Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this
   report.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/russian-aid-convoy-crossing-into-ukraine/2424295.html