Spot Report by the Observer Mission at the Russian checkpoints of Gukovo and Donetsk: the sixty-eigth Russian convoy of 17 vehicles crossed into Ukraine

SUMMARY

On 26 October 2017 at 06:55 (Moscow time), the sixty-eighth[1] Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 17 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guards and customs services prior to their crossing into Ukraine. All 17 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 14:18 on 26 October.

DETAIL

Leaving the Russian Federation

On 26 October at 06:55 the Observer Mission observed the arrival of a Russian convoy at the gate of the Donetsk BCP. A Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) team co-ordinated and led the movements of the convoy. The convoy consisted of 12 cargo trucks and five support vehicles belonging to the MES. All cargo trucks bore the inscription “Humanitarian help from the Russian Federation”.

At 06:55 the vehicles entered the customs control area and queued in two lines. Once the convoy arrived, the vehicles were visually checked from the outside by the Russian Federation border guards and customs officers. The Russian MES staff rolled up/opened the tarpaulins of the trucks and the border guards and customs officials performed a visual observation from the outside.

Two service dogs were present and used by the Russian Federation border guards to check the vehicles from the outside. Three Ukrainian border guards and two customs officers were observed accompanying their Russian counterparts; they also performed a visual observation of the vehicles from the outside (without entering the trucks’ cargo space). The Ukrainian officials had clipboards in their hands and were taking notes. The Ukrainian officials were permanently escorted by two armed man in camouflage. By 07:17 all the vehicles had left the BCP towards Ukraine.

Returning to the Russian Federation

At 14:00 the convoy returned and queued in the customs area. The tarpaulins of the trucks were opened and Russian border guards and customs officers visually checked the returning convoy from the outside with the assistance of two service dogs. Ukrainian representatives – three border guards and two customs officers – were present during this check. They also performed visual checks of the opened trucks from the outside. During this procedure, the Ukrainian officials were constantly escorted by two armed man in camouflage. By 14:18 all 17 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation.

[1] According to the statement of the Russian Federation officials, this convoy is considered to be the seventieth Russian convoy which was sent to Ukraine. As two of these convoys did not cross through the “Donetsk” or “Gukovo” border crossing points, the Observer Mission did not record them. Hence, based on the Observer Mission’s counting, this convoy is considered the 68th convoy that has crossed into Ukraine.