IZVARYNE: Kiev accused Moscow of invading as Russia unilaterally drove a mammoth aid convoy across war-torn east Ukraine on Friday.

The European Union said it “deplored” Russia’s decision to order in the convoy without consent and called on Moscow to withdraw the trucks.

Scores of white trucks snaked across rebel-held territory after Moscow abruptly called time after a week of haggling with Kiev, despite Red Cross officials refusing to provide an escort because of security concerns.

“This is a direct invasion,” the head of Ukraine’s security service, Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, was quoted by news agencies as saying. But he said Ukraine would not order air strikes on the trucks.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry however claimed that separatist fighters were shelling the convoy’s possible route to the rebel bastion of Lugansk some 63km away and could be planning a “provocation”.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2014