About a month ago, when Russia sent a humanitarian convoy to aid ethnic Russians in east Ukraine, the Western world, and of course media, screamed bloody murder, with everyone from NATO to the Kiev government declaring it, without a shadow of a doubt, an invasion, a Trojan Horse, and a convoy of arms deliveries for the rebels caught in the Ukraine civil war, not necessarily in that order. Nobody thought it could possibly be just that: a convoy of humanitarian aid delivering provisions to hundreds of thousands of civilians caught in the middle of a war. Then finally, after weeks of delays, the convoy was allowed in and after unloading its cargo, promptly returned to Russia without a single incident.
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Fast forward to today, when hours ago Russia sent a second humanitarian convoy into east Ukraine, which entered without enter the approval of Kiev or the oversight of the Red Cross and nobody said a word.
As if all the posturing and warmongering rhetoric have long since departed the Ukraine, now that the US is fully engaged in yet another war, this time not a proxy civil war but one involving doing Qatar's natural gas pipeline bidding once more, meaning it is time to conclude what was started in early 2013 and once again try to dethrone Syria's assad so that the all important Gazprom-displacing pipeline from the middle east can finally make its way to Europe, aided by a soon to be new, pro-American government in Syria.
But back to Ukraine where the second convoy barely made news and the details about it were only revealed several paragraphs deep inside this AP article [8]about ongoing fighting near the Donetsk airport:
On Saturday Russia also sent a convoy across the border of Ukraine, loaded with what Russian reports said was humanitarian aid, without the approval of Kiev or oversight of the international Red Cross. A similar convoy in August was loudly condemned by Ukrainian officials as an invasion, but this time around Lysenko simply called the move "illegal." The country's top leaders have remained silent, underscoring how dramatically the mood has shifted in the Kiev government since a cease-fire deal was struck.
The last truck crossed onto Ukrainian soil early Saturday from the Russian border town Donetsk, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) miles east of the Ukrainian city with the same name, Rayan Farukshin, a spokesman for Russia's customs agency, told the Associated Press by phone.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's observer mission to the Russian-Ukrainian border said 220 trucks had crossed into Ukraine. Only 40 trucks were checked by the Russian border guard, while the other 180 were waved straight through, it said. None of the vehicles were inspected by the Ukrainian side or by the ICRC.
"Ukraine border guards and customs were not allowed to examine the cargo and vehicles," Lysenko said. "Representatives of the Red Cross don't accompany the cargo, nobody knows what's inside."
The Russian emergency ministry, which coordinated previous humanitarian aid deliveries to Ukraine, could not be reached for comment about the convoy.
Even the AP is confused by the change in rhetoric:
In August, Ukrainian officials said that a first convoy of humanitarian aid from Russia would be seen as an invasion of the country, and loudly protested any attempts by Russia to unilaterally bring in the aid. Eventually Russia sent its trucks across the border and into rebel-held territory without the oversight of the International Red Cross, contrary to an agreement signed between Ukraine and Russia.
A representative of the ICRC's Moscow office said they had not been informed about the current convoy, either.
"We were not officially notified of an agreement between Moscow and Kiev to ship the cargo," Galina Balzamova said Saturday.
Others were also quick to point out the inconsistencies in a narrative that changes day to day:
Last time Russia sent a humanitarian aid convoy to Ukraine, the SBU chief said it was an "invasion."
— Nataliya Vasilyeva (@NatVasilyevaAP) September 13, 2014 [9]
The vast difference in reaction to this Russian convoy and the previous one shows how much things have changed in #Ukraine [10] in a few weeks.
— Paul Sonne (@PaulSonne) September 13, 2014 [11]
Back in Kiev, the confused Western-puppet government, while reiterating the generic talking points, had no idea how to frame the second Russian humanitarian "invasion" so it just kept silent.
At a conference with politicians and business leaders in Kiev, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that Ukraine was "still in a state of war" with neighboring Russia and struck out against President Vladimir Putin, whose goal he said was to "take the entire Ukraine." "He cannot cope with the idea that Ukraine would be a part of a big EU family. He wants to restore the Soviet Union," Yatsenyuk said.
Despite the tough talk, often heard among Ukrainian politicians as they gear up for parliamentary election, Yatsenyuk made no mention of the Russian convoy.
RIA reports that the distribution [12]of Russian humanitarian aid will start as early as Monday, according to the First Deputy Premier Minister of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic Valery Potapov: "We will start giving out [humanitarian aid to the population] on Monday," the official said. He also noted that the Luhansk authorities have designed a system of humanitarian aid distribution following the previous Russian humanitarian aid convoy, delivered to the Eastern Ukrainian city in late August. Which suggest that the convoy will remain around Donetsk for at least 48 hours, something with the Kiev regime of a month ago would loudly label as a undisputed invasion, and yet this time, nobody says a word.
Which goes back to what we wondered about last week: why the push by both sides, Ukraine and Russia, to mask the ongoing events in eaat Ukraine under a blanket "ceasefire" regime, when clearly nothing has changed and when the fighting between the Ukraine army and separatists is waged daily: who is it that benefits the most from a facade of fake clam and what happens next?
