UKRAINIAN authorities warned today they would not allow a Russian aid convoy to enter the country unless stringent conditions were met.

The 280-lorry caravan carrying food, medicine, power generators and other supplies has left Moscow bound for the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, which face a humanitarian crisis as a result of Kiev’s military assault on separatists.

Lugansk city authorities warned on Monday that residents — of whom there are 250,000 left of a 420,000 pre-war population — have been without electricity and running water for nine days.

But Kiev’s National Security and Defence Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko claimed the convoy was “not certified by the International Committee of the Red Cross” and might contain military aid for the rebels.

It was an abrupt change of tune after Mr Lysenko had claimed a day earlier that the convoy had been jointly agreed to by President Petro Poroshenko and the Red Cross.

When the convoy arrives at the Ukrainian border in several days it would have to unload its supplies and hand them to Ukraine-approved authorities, he said — leading to fears that Kiev may prevent vital supplies from reaching citizens in rebel-held areas currently under government siege.

It is unclear if Kiev will be able to prevent the convoy’s passage as around 60 miles of the border with Russia are currently under the control of the separatists.

Russian authorities said that they had not yet agreed a crossing point but that the mission had previously been agreed “by all parties concerned.”