The border guards of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) did not allow UN humanitarian aid to pass. This was reported on February 27 in the press service of the Ukrainian delegation in the trilateral contact group on the settlement of the conflict in the south-east of the country.
They explained that on February 24, from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire and Stabilization of the Situation in Southeast Ukraine, a request was received for permission to cross the Happiness checkpoint of a humanitarian aid convoy for residents of the uncontrolled territory.
The next day, the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire sent written guarantees of security and approval of the crossing point to the representatives of the department. They said that on the morning of February 26, 11 trucks with humanitarian supplies and representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees arrived at the “Happiness” checkpoint.
Representatives of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass, according to the Ukrainian side, refused to receive the cargo, providing information on the reason for the refusal.
UN representatives made a decision to send vehicles to the city of Severodonetsk.
“The Ukrainian side has sent appropriate notes to the OSCE SMM (Special Monitoring Commission. – Ed.) And intends to bring this issue up for discussion during the next meeting of the contact group, which is expected on March 3,” the representatives of the Ukrainian side noted, adding that they expect “the relevant reactions of partner states and the leadership of international organizations ”.
At the end of June last year, the authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) closed traffic through checkpoints on the border with Ukraine due to a sharp aggravation of the situation with the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine.
On June 30, the DPR lifted restrictions on the departure of citizens of the republic to Russia.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a military operation against the self-proclaimed LPR and DPR, which declared independence after the coup d’etat in Ukraine. The issue of resolving the situation in Donbass is being discussed during the meetings in Minsk of authorized representatives of Ukraine, the OSCE and Russia and the Normandy format with the mediation of Moscow, Paris and Berlin. However, even after the agreements between Ukraine and the self-proclaimed republics, clashes continue.