Russian aid convoy into Ukraine called 'direct invasion'

The presence of Russian vehicles in Ukraine is an "unauthorized entry" and the personnel and vehicles must be removed immediately, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters Friday. No Russian personnel should enter Ukraine under the guise of a humanitarian convoy, Kirby said.
Russia has up to 18,000 "combat-ready" troops on its border with Ukraine on Friday, a significant increase from previous public estimates by the Pentagon, according to a U.S. defense official with direct access to the latest information.

The official described the units as being in a "fully combat-capable offensive posture."

A second U.S. official said that many of the units were positioned at "crossroads and towns" 2 to 10 miles from the border.

"They are definitely more overt, aggressive and out in the open," the official said. "They aren't even hiding it."

The second official said the United States has believed for weeks that some Russian troops have crossed the border as part of the convoys of military gear and weapons moving from Russia into Ukraine. Of particular concern is the apparent transport of long-range and advanced systems including at least two SA-22 surface to air missile system and a number of pieces of longer-range artillery.

The show of force comes on the same day a Ukrainian official accused Russia of directly invading the country under the guise of humanitarian aid after Ukraine's military said part of a Russian aid convoy violated an deal by entering Ukraine without Red Cross monitors.

Russia sent 34 trucks from an aid convoy into eastern Ukraine after Russian and Ukrainian customs officials cleared them under the assumption that the International Committee of the Red Cross would be with them, the Ukrainian military said.

But the Red Cross said it was no longer with the convoy because of the "volatile security situation," a reference to fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces.

In total, at least 134 Russian vehicles in the aid convoy had entered Ukraine as of 2:20 p.m., according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which has an observer mission at the checkpoint the convoy is passing through.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday condemned the "entry of a Russian so-called humanitarian convoy into Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian authorities and without any involvement of the International Committee of the Red Cross."

"It can only deepen the crisis in the region, which Russia itself has created and has continued to fuel," he said in a statement. "The disregard of international humanitarian principles raises further questions about whether the true purpose of the aid convoy is to support civilians or to resupply armed separatists."

The unaccompanied trucks effectively constitute a Russian invasion of Ukraine, said Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, the head of Ukraine's security service.

"We call this a direct invasion for the first time under cynical cover of the Red Cross," Nalyvaychenko said Friday.

The news was the latest flashpoint in tensions between Moscow and Kiev, which for months has accused Russia of sending supplies into Ukraine to support pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine's east.

Ukraine, as of now, doesn't plan to use force against the convoy, though Kiev suspects that the trucks' supplies will be given to rebels, Nalyvaychenko said.

Meanwhile, another 90 vehicles are headed toward the Ukrainian border, according to Col. Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's National Defense and Security Council. Ukrainian border guards, customs officers and Red Cross representatives have not been given access to that group, Lysenko said.

He said that the Ukrainian side had proposed talks with Russia over the humanitarian aid but that Moscow had refused.

The trucks were part of a larger convoy that left the Moscow area last week, with Russia insisting that it be allowed to send aid to civilians -- many of them Russian speakers -- affected by the months of fighting in eastern Ukraine. Aid groups say the battles have left thousands without access to water, electricity and proper medical aid.

Ukraine, concerned that Russia might try to smuggle military supplies, stalled the trucks for days on the Russian side of the border.

But Ukrainian officials acknowledged Sunday that the convoy of more than 260 Russian vehicles was, in fact, carrying humanitarian aid.

Red Cross monitors were supposed to accompany the initial 34 vehicles but decided not to do so because they did not get the security guarantees they needed, the agency said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said the first group of trucks was headed toward Luhansk, one of two Ukrainian regions at the center of the conflict.

Russian state news agency Itar-Tass said the initial convoy carried food and essential items for people in the region.

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council said Friday that the customs service had granted access for 34 vehicles, 34 people and 268,020 kilograms of Russian humanitarian aid.