USA: Russia uses humanitarian convoys to bring military materials to Donbas
Russia is only creating the appearance of assisting the local population in the territories of the Donbas; in truth, the “humanitarian convoys” simply mask the transportation of materials for military purposes, stated the Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the US Mission to the OSCE, Harry Kamian, in an address to the OSCE leadership.
Kamian said that the OSCE Monitoring Mission recorded the arrival of the 75th Russian white-truck convoy into Ukrainian territory on May 24.
“OSCE Monitors at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point counted ten trucks, eight of which bore the inscription ‘Humanitarian Help from the Russian Federation.’…monitors of the SMM [Special Monitoring Mission] saw the convoy enter from the Russian Federation. Though the trucks had only driven 500 meters, one additional unmarked white truck had somehow joined the convoy. That truck, of course, would not have undergone even the most superficial visual observation from the Ukrainian Border Guards stationed at the Donetsk Crossing Point in Russia,” said Kamian, as quoted by the Voice of America.
The US representative believes that the incident above may explain why "Russia-led forces ordered the SMM to move back 500 meters as the convoy drove into Ukraine”.
“We have no idea what is actually inside these supposed humanitarian aid convoys, because the Russian Federation will not let the Monitoring Mission or the SMM inspect them or watch them unload… if Russia were truly delivering humanitarian aid, why would its forces go to such great lengths to bar international observers at the border and within Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine from seeing the contents of its cargo?” Kamian continued.
He also noted that convoys that come from the Russian Federation are unloaded in an unusual way for humanitarian cargo.
“We do know, however, that these so-called aid trucks did not unload at any hospital, school, NGO, or UN warehouse. Rather, they were unloaded at a compound the SMM reported as used by Russia-led forces. Armed men in military uniforms guarded its perimeter and prevented the SMM monitors from seeing the cargo or speaking with anyone on site,” the US Chargé d'Affaires a.i. to the OSCE said.