Smoke fills the sky as a firefighter peers at a military vehicle which has been riddled with bullets in Luhansk
Ukraine said Monday the Red Cross will lead an multilnational group -- including Russia -- in a humanitarian mission to the besieged city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, but that no Russian soldiers would be allowed to participate.
Ukraine had previously objected to Russian involvement in any humanitarian effort out of concern that any relief convoy might be used as a cover for a Russian invasion.
Kiev said the agreement was made with the International Red Cross Committee, along with Russia, the European Union and the United States.
Ukraine's foreign ministry said Kiev would provide the relief goods for the mission and that logistical support, including the delivery and distribution of goods, would be provided by the Red Cross and Ukraine.
A senior official in Ukraine's presidential administration told the Kiev Post that "Russia will have a formal part, but there will be no Russian [military] forces, no soldiers."
President Petro Poroshenko's office said in a statement that the plan had received backing from President Barack Obama. He added that he spoke to President Obama on Monday and that the U.S. would take an "active part" in the mission.
In Washington, however, the White House said in a statement only that the two leaders spoke and that Poroshenko updated Obama on his discussions with the IRCC about multilateral humanitarian aid.
"The President noted the urgency of such humanitarian efforts and encouraged President Poroshenko to continue to exercise restraint and caution in military operations in order to avoid civilian casualties," the White House statement said.
Luhansk, August 2014.
Earlier, the Kremlin said it was sending in the humanitarian convoy.
The plan was first outlined by Putin in a phone call to Jose Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, ITAR-TASS reported.
Putin, according to the presidential press service, said Russia, together with the IRCC, would send a relief convoy to hard-hit areas of Ukraine.
Putin emphasized "the catastrophic consequences of the military operation the Kiev authorities are conducting in south-eastern regions and on the need for urgent humanitarian aid to the region," the statement said.
Barroso's office said the warned Russia "against any unilateral military actions in Ukraine, under any pretext, including humanitarian."
Luhansk, a city of around 425,000 that has dwindled to around 250,00 people during the fighting over eastern Ukraine, has been among the hardest hit cities in the region, along with another rebel stronghold, Donetsk.
A citizen of Lugansk made a Google map to show which buildings have been hit by the shelling up to this moment. (August 11 2014).
Luhansk, which is about 18 miles form the Russian border, has been without electricity and water for a week.
The deal for a relief mission came as Ukraine has called on residents of both cities to leave in advance of a push by Ukrainian troops to recapture the cities.
A Ukrainian military convoy moves along a road near Donetsk (August 6th 2014).
Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the National Security Defense Council, said Ukrainian forces are prepared to help local residents of both cities flee their homes temporarily via special corridors, Ukrinform reports.
"We are ready to provide all possible vehicles for the removal of people from these populated localities," Lysenko said.
He said the Ukrainian troops are preparing for the "final stage of the operation to liberate Donetsk," a city with a pre-conflict population of 1 million. Separatist leaders say the population has dwindled to around 600,000.
He said the Ukrainian troops are preparing for the "final stage of the operation to liberate Donetsk," a city with a pre-conflict population of 1 million. Separatist leaders say the population has dwindled to around 600,000.
In the past week Ukrainian government forces have intensified their military operations and surrounded Donetsk, the largest city in rebel-held eastern Ukraine. Exchanges of rocket fire and deaths from shelling have become a feature of daily life and hundreds of thousands have chosen to flee.
Lysenko denied that Ukrainian forces were conducting artillery attacks against populated localities or planned to.
"We do not act as Russian troops did in the Caucasus: we do not completely shell cities in order to enter them and put up a flag," he said.
Donetsk City Council spokesman Maxim Rovinsky said Monday at least 10 homes, shops and garages were hit by overnight rockets. He added that 20,000 people had no electricity in Donetsk, many shops have closed and supplies are dwindling at the few still open.
Rovinsky also charged that a direct rocket hit on a high-security prison killed at least one inmate and left three others severely wounded. In the chaos, he said 106 prisoners escaped, included some jailed for murder, robbery and rape. Officials with Ukraine's state penitentiary service said later Monday that 34 prisoners had returned to the facility.
Ukraine has rejected a call by Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic, for a humanitarian cease-fire. Ukrainian officials have said that calls for a humanitarian convoy would be used by Russia as a pretext for invasion.
Lysenko denied that Ukrainian forces were conducting artillery attacks against populated localities or planned to.
"We do not act as Russian troops did in the Caucasus: we do not completely shell cities in order to enter them and put up a flag," he said.
Donetsk City Council spokesman Maxim Rovinsky said Monday at least 10 homes, shops and garages were hit by overnight rockets. He added that 20,000 people had no electricity in Donetsk, many shops have closed and supplies are dwindling at the few still open.
Rovinsky also charged that a direct rocket hit on a high-security prison killed at least one inmate and left three others severely wounded. In the chaos, he said 106 prisoners escaped, included some jailed for murder, robbery and rape. Officials with Ukraine's state penitentiary service said later Monday that 34 prisoners had returned to the facility.
Ukraine has rejected a call by Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic, for a humanitarian cease-fire. Ukrainian officials have said that calls for a humanitarian convoy would be used by Russia as a pretext for invasion.
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