The second Russian humanitarian convoy bound for the east of Ukraine could be sent by rail through the Gukovo checkpoint in the next ten days, provided Russia and Ukraine have agreed all necessary procedures, Deputy Director of Ukraine's State Fiscal Service Anatoliy Makarenko has said.
“The Russian Foreign Ministry sent a note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, notifying us of Russia’s preparation of another so-called ‘humanitarian convoy.’ Russia suggested rail transport as a possibility. So now we are going through all possible options for working with this humanitarian convoy. The main condition set by the Ukrainian State Fiscal Service’s customs office is that the recipient should be the Red Cross, as agreed,” Makarenko told reporters on Aug. 29.
He stressed that Russia must not violate Ukraine’s customs and border procedure “as it did the previous time: of the 280 vehicles declared as humanitarian goods, only 34 passed the customs procedures, the other (197 vehicles) moved into Ukraine without completing the customs procedures.”
“We are ready for such work, and if such a decision is made, the customs and border authorities are ready. For now we are working on the checkpoint: if it goes by rail, it will be through the Gukovo checkpoint, within 30 kilometers of Izvaryne. We have a group of border guards and customs officers deployed there, and we are ready to have the train cleared by this group. Judging by the dynamic, I think all this will already be in place in the next ten days,” Makarenko said.
