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Russian lorries taking aid to conflict-hit east Ukraine have started a second day of their journey.
The convoy of almost 300 vehicles stopped overnight in the southern city of Voronezh, and is due to arrive at the Ukraine border later on Wednesday.
Uncertainty remains about how the aid will be delivered, amid fears Russia could use the convoy as a pretext for military action in Ukraine.
Ukraine's interior minister said the aid would not be let into the country.
"Provocation by a cynical aggressor is not permissible on our territory," Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page (in Russian).
At least 1,500 have died since mid-April, when Ukraine sent troops against pro-Russia rebels in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The fighting has displaced almost 300,000 people, many of whom have fled to Russia.
Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected in Crimea on Wednesday for a meeting with members of the Security Council.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March, a move which triggered the first round of Western sanctions against Moscow.
Ukraine conditions
The lorries, said to be carrying nearly 2,000 tonnes of aid, left the Moscow area bound for Luhansk on Tuesday morning, Russian media and officials say.
Russian TV showed the cargo, including grain, baby food and medicine, which will go to civilians trapped by fighting in the area held by pro-Russia rebels.
Russian TV showed the aid being loaded onto lorries on Tuesday morning
Residents in Donetsk and Luhansk are facing food shortages and power cuts because of the fighting
Ukraine government forces continue to shell rebel areas
Thousands are reported to be without water, electricity and medicine
The convoy spent the night in Voronezh, about 300km (185 miles) or seven hours' drive from the proposed border crossing point at Shebekino-Pletnyovka into Ukraine's Kharkiv region, and is now continuing its journey.
A day before Mr Avakov said the convoy would not be allowed in, Ukrainian officials set conditions for its entry.
Security Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said aid should pass through a government-controlled border post and be accompanied by Red Cross officials.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow had agreed to these conditions.
"We have received a note from the Ukrainian side with confirmation of their readiness to accept this aid," he said, quoted by Itar-Tass news agency.
A Ukrainian refugee explains how she left her mother behind, sheltering in a basement, when she fled to Russia
Mr Lavrov added that a Ukrainian demand that the aid be transferred to other vehicles at the border had been dropped on the grounds of cost.
The lorries would continue on their journey with Ukrainian number plates, he added.
But the BBC's Daniel Sandford in Moscow says that long discussions are continuing about whether the lorries will actually be allowed to enter.
Western officials have expressed concerns that Russia is using humanitarian assistance as a pretext to put troops in eastern Ukraine.
Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned on Monday that the Russians were developing a "narrative and a pretext" for a military operation under the guise of aid.
On Wednesday, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond called on Russia to "state without undue delay the items they intend to supply" and respect the neutrality of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The ICRC has said it still needs more security guarantees and information about the aid convoy.
It has, however, acknowledged the situation in eastern Ukraine is critical and has agreed in principle to such an operation.
Casualties: At least 1,543 people have been killed in the east since mid-April, including civilians, the military and members of the armed groups,the UN said on 8 August. Some 4,396 have been confirmed wounded, "but the real number is likely to be much higher". Ukraine said on 11 August that 468 of its soldiers had been killed. The rebels have reported losing at least 800 fighters.
Refugees: Nearly 300,000 people have been forced from their homes this year. More than 117,000 are displaced inside Ukraine, 87% of them from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, while a further 168,000 have crossed into Russia. Source: UN refugee agency
Our correspondent says that such a theatrical move by the Russians, which involved painting lorries a bright white colour and driving them 800km, suggests the Russians are trying to make a point as much as send aid.
Many of the goods being supplied could be sourced much closer to eastern Ukraine, he says, but the Russians argue that the Ukrainian government has failed to look after the humanitarian needs of its people.
'Horrible losses'
Ukraine has reported in recent days that Russia has massed 45,000 troops on its border.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the idea of using the aid convoy as an excuse for military action as "absurd" and said the mission was purely humanitarian and non-military.
Advances by government troops in recent weeks have put pressure on the rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, leaving the latter in particular virtually cut off.
However, reports on Wednesday said that 12 members of the ultranationalist group Right Sector, fighting on the side of the Ukrainian government, had been killed in an ambush near Donetsk. Several others were captured.
Right Sector spokesman Artem Skoropadsky said a bus taking them into battle was fired on by separatists in the village of Mandrykino.
The fighting in Donetsk region has prevented a full investigation of the MH17 air disaster on 17 July, in which 298 people died.
It is strongly suspected that the plane was shot down by pro-Russian rebels. Russia and the separatists have blamed the Ukrainian military.
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