Kiev, Aug 15 (IANS): Ukrainian border guards have started the inspection of Russia's humanitarian aid convoy on the border between the two countries, authorities said.

Fouty-one Ukrainian frontier guards and 18 customs officers began the inspection work Friday morning, Xinhua quoted the press service of Ukraine's anti-terror operation as saying.

Once the cargo inspection is completed, the humanitarian aid will go to Lugansk city in eastern Ukraine, where people are suffering from food, water and medicine shortages, the press service said on its official Facebook page.

On Tuesday, a 280-truck convoy carrying about 2,000 tonnes of relief supplies, including food, medication, sleeping bags and power generators, departed from the Moscow region.

The convoy had been parked not far from the Ukrainian-Russian border amid disagreement over how and where it would enter Ukraine.

Kiev suspects that Russia could use the aid as a guise to transfer weapons to independence-seeking insurgents, an accusation Russia has strongly denied.

On Thursday, Kiev sent its own humanitarian convoy of 71 trucks with 800 tonnes of aid to the conflict-torn eastern part of the country.