A CONTESTED Russian aid convoy is heading toward Ukraine today, rolling toward a rebel-controlled border crossing in the Lugansk region.

The fleet of more than 280 vehicles had been parked in Voronezh amid disagreement over how and where aid could be delivered.

But the white trucks moved out today, turning near the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and driving toward the Ukraine border crossing at Izvaryne, which is currently under rebel control.

It then stopped and was waiting a few miles short of the border in the late afternoon.

The route suggested Russia was not intending to deliver the aid to a government-controlled checkpoint in the Kharkiv region as demanded by the Kiev government, which has threatened to block the convoy if the cargo could not be inspected.

National Security and Defence Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Ukraine would be forced to act if the Russians refused to allow inspections. 

“Movement of the convoy would be blocked with all the forces available,” he said, though it was unclear what Ukraine’s forces could do.

The use of armed force against a humanitarian aid convoy would constitute a huge diplomatic blunder.

Red Cross spokeswoman Anastasia Isyuk said that talks between her organisation, Ukraine and Russia were continuing, but she could not confirm where the Russian convoy was headed.

“The plans keep changing, the discussions are going ahead and we will not confirm for sure until we know an agreement has been reached,” Ms Isyuk said.

The Ukrainian government announced yesterday that it was dispatching its own aid convoy.

Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Maxim Burbak said three convoys totaling 75 trucks were transporting around 800 tons of aid destined for Lugansk.

However the convoys stood in stark contrast to continued killing as Ukrainian forces stepped up efforts to dislodge rebels in Donetsk and Lugansk.

Heavy shelling has pounded the cities following the resignation of Lugansk People’s Republic head Valery Bolotov.

Mr Bolotov said he had been injured and could no longer continue. 

Health authorities in Donetsk said 74 people had been killed over the past three days.