The Russian 'aid' convoy continues to wend its way closer and closer to the East Ukraine border. As NYTimes reports [5], moving at a steady 50 miles per hour, more than 200 commercial trucks and some army trucks with white tarpaulins set out before daybreak from a military base in the city of Voronezh, where the convoy had halted for more than a day after protests from Kiev. It is now around 30 miles east of Ukraine, stopped in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky. Here is the a full look at the convoy, its contents, and the helicopters and tanks surrounding it...
The start...
Just got to Voronezh: looks like convoy or part of it still at base here- trucks are white line in the pic pic.twitter.com/R5GkAvvpAj [6]
— Courtney Weaver (@courtneymoscow) August 13, 2014 [7]
[8]
Those white dots are about 100 convoy trucks in front of us. We seem to be stopping in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky pic.twitter.com/maWKdLFJYG [9]
— Courtney Weaver (@courtneymoscow) August 14, 2014 [10]
340km from Rostov. Just passed 2 dozen trucks parked on side of road. Another 2 dozen behind us pic.twitter.com/op7fR6Cc5T [11]
— Courtney Weaver (@courtneymoscow) August 14, 2014 [12]
The convoy is close to the Ukraine border:
Inside the convoy:
Spent a couple of hours with the Russian convoy which has stopped, possibly for some time. Field camp being set up pic.twitter.com/UN1NTJSsbX [13]
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) August 14, 2014 [14]
Most of the trucks seem to be green Rus military trucks w/ either white paint job or white tarps over them pic.twitter.com/92MeuvWVse [15]
— Courtney Weaver (@courtneymoscow) August 14, 2014 [16]
Another truck we had them open had boxes of sleeping bags. Seemed happy to let us see whatever pic.twitter.com/khiwDN8Ys4 [17]
— Courtney Weaver (@courtneymoscow) August 14, 2014 [18]
Tan men told us we could open any truck we liked. This one had bags full of grechka (buckwheat) pic.twitter.com/nC3j02bcUs [19]
— Courtney Weaver (@courtneymoscow) August 14, 2014 [20]
And these are carefully following:
Two helicopters accompanying the convoy, flying extremely low. Now sat in the fields alongside pic.twitter.com/yYTr7Vhp8C [21]
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) August 14, 2014 [22]
So two of these babies just pulled up behind the convoy line pic.twitter.com/EVyACn40HQ [23]
— Courtney Weaver (@courtneymoscow) August 14, 2014 [24]
These look more like repainted army trucks (for troop transport?) have ridden inside a green one of these pic.twitter.com/AcHenTXVtk [25]
— Andrew Roth (@ARothNYT) August 14, 2014 [26]
14.08.14 ??????? ??????? ? ??????? ? ????????????? ?????????.?????? ?4(?????????? ???#Ukraine #????? [27] #??????? [28] #?????? [29] pic.twitter.com/bK4tVYVxun [30]
— galandecZP (@galandecZP) August 14, 2014 [31]
* * *
Putin told reporters, "all this is going on in complete coordination with and under the aegis of the Red Cross."
