Two men lift the tarp of a Russian truck near the border with conflict-ridden Ukraine, showing the cargo to around 25 journalists with cameras and microphones in hand.
"What a lot of journalists for sacks of sugar," mutters the driver, Alexander, whose truck is one of 280 that Moscow says are loaded with humanitarian aid.
Officials of Russia's emergency ministry show the goods packed on 10 of the trucks to the journalists: cartons full of items such as baby formula, meal rations and bottled water.
"We've shown you everything. You see that we have nothing to hide -- these trucks are carrying nothing but humanitarian aid," said Sergei Karavaytsev, the ministry's chief of international operations.
Russia has repeatedly deplored the deteriorating conditions for civilians caught up in the fighting in eastern Ukraine as pro-Russian rebels battle government troops around two major cities.
The convoy set off from the Moscow region late on Tuesday, but has been stopped repeatedly over fears in Kiev that the convoy could be a pretext for a Russian intervention.
Now parked some 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the Ukrainian border outside the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and under regular surveillance from military helicopters, the 280 trucks appear to have been hastily repainted from khaki to white.
"I don't know how long we will stay. My wife just called and I told her maybe Monday, maybe in two weeks," says one of the drivers before being abruptly cut off by a ministry official who tells him not to talk about subjects he knows nothing about.
"For the moment, all that we can say is that it (the convoy) will stay here for a couple more days," Karavaytsev was quoted as saying by Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency. "The hour and date of its departure is still under discussion."
- 'We want to help' -
The drivers will stay in a tent camp while they await the order to drive to the border.
"The drive was long, I'm quite tired," confides Yevgeny, another driver. "It is good that we have stopped as we need to repair the trucks as the loads were heavy and we've got a long way to go yet."
Asked about the fighting that is still raging between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian rebels, Yevgeny shrugs his shoulders.
"I am not scared as I am not doing this for money, so if I don't return, too bad," he says. "The most important thing is to deliver the aid to the children who are dying there, to innocent victims who are dying every day due to this war."
Fifty-eight Ukrainian border guards and customs officers arrived Friday at the Russian border crossing post known as Donetsk.
"The Ukrainians... arrived during the night to wait for the convoy to arrive at the crossing to inspect it," said Paul Picard, head of the OSCE mission observing the Donetsk border crossing and another one nearby.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of supplying weapons and other support to the rebels, a charge Moscow denies.
Picard said the OSCE observers, who are monitoring just the two border crossings, did not see Russian military vehicles crossing the border overnight as reported by several Western media.
The mission has spotted men wearing military uniforms cross at the border posts, according to its latest weekly report.
"Why don't the journalists and the Ukrainians trust Russia?" asks Yevgeny. "We just want to help. It isn't our war."
Two men lift the tarp of a Russian truck near the border with conflict-ridden Ukraine, showing the cargo to around 25 journalists with cameras and microphones in hand.
“What a lot of journalists for sacks of sugar,” mutters the driver, Alexander, whose truck is one of 280 that Moscow says are loaded with humanitarian aid.
Officials of Russia’s emergency ministry show the goods packed on 10 of the trucks to the journalists: cartons full of items such as baby formula, meal rations and bottled water.
“We’ve shown you everything. You see that we have nothing to hide — these trucks are carrying nothing but humanitarian aid,” said Sergei Karavaytsev, the ministry’s chief of international operations.
Russia has repeatedly deplored the deteriorating conditions for civilians caught up in the fighting in eastern Ukraine as pro-Russian rebels battle government troops around two major cities.
The convoy set off from the Moscow region late on Tuesday, but has been stopped repeatedly over fears in Kiev that the convoy could be a pretext for a Russian intervention.
Now parked some 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the Ukrainian border outside the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and under regular surveillance from military helicopters, the 280 trucks appear to have been hastily repainted from khaki to white.
“I don’t know how long we will stay. My wife just called and I told her maybe Monday, maybe in two weeks,” says one of the drivers before being abruptly cut off by a ministry official who tells him not to talk about subjects he knows nothing about.
“For the moment, all that we can say is that it (the convoy) will stay here for a couple more days,” Karavaytsev was quoted as saying by Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency. “The hour and date of its departure is still under discussion.”
– ‘We want to help’ –
The drivers will stay in a tent camp while they await the order to drive to the border.
“The drive was long, I’m quite tired,” confides Yevgeny, another driver. “It is good that we have stopped as we need to repair the trucks as the loads were heavy and we’ve got a long way to go yet.”
Asked about the fighting that is still raging between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian rebels, Yevgeny shrugs his shoulders.
“I am not scared as I am not doing this for money, so if I don’t return, too bad,” he says. “The most important thing is to deliver the aid to the children who are dying there, to innocent victims who are dying every day due to this war.”
Fifty-eight Ukrainian border guards and customs officers arrived Friday at the Russian border crossing post known as Donetsk.
“The Ukrainians… arrived during the night to wait for the convoy to arrive at the crossing to inspect it,” said Paul Picard, head of the OSCE mission observing the Donetsk border crossing and another one nearby.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of supplying weapons and other support to the rebels, a charge Moscow denies.
Picard said the OSCE observers, who are monitoring just the two border crossings, did not see Russian military vehicles crossing the border overnight as reported by several Western media.
The mission has spotted men wearing military uniforms cross at the border posts, according to its latest weekly report.
“Why don’t the journalists and the Ukrainians trust Russia?” asks Yevgeny. “We just want to help. It isn’t our war.”
