The Russian convoy approaches Ukraine, artillery whistles in the sky over Donetsk

The Russian truck convoy was covered with white tarps, some with red flags.

About 280 vehicles, including escort cars and trucks covered in white tarpaulins and flying red flags, traveled along a highway through sunflower fields and hillsides.

After that, the convoy moved to a location about 28 km from the Ukrainian border and stopped in a large field.

Meanwhile, parties including Russia, Ukraine and the International Red Cross have still not reached an agreement on how Moscow will deliver aid to eastern Ukraine, where thousands of people live without electricity, water, and food.

It is unclear whether the Russian convoy will stop at the border or enter Ukraine.

Kiev and the West suspect that the Russian convoy carried military support for the rebels or even invaded under the guise of humanitarian aid.

Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the National Security and Defense Committee of Ukraine, said they would be forced to take action if the convoy did not agree to inspect the goods.

Previously, on August 12, the Russian convoy gathered at a military warehouse in the city of Voronezh, in the south of the country, when Moscow and Kiev had not yet reached an agreement on the final stop of the relief convoy.

According to Reuters, concerns about a humanitarian disaster are increasing in Ukraine as Kiev continues its offensive to recapture the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.

Two artillery shells fell just 200 meters from the city’s main hotel, shattering the building’s windows, piercing a hole in the third floor of an apartment building and creating a large hole in the sidewalk.

Liliya Chelina, 54, who lives in the apartment building where the shell tore through the wall, said: `It rushed straight into the building. Thank God I wasn’t in the kitchen.`

`My husband kept saying that artillery wouldn’t attack our house, only target big offices. But that’s it now!`.