MAKIYIVKA, Ukraine – Some 300 people, many cold and clearly impatient, have gathered in front of the community center in Makiyivka, a Donetsk Oblast city of more than 300,000 people. They are waiting for the distribution of food as part of the humanitarian aid that Russia claims to have been providing over the past six months.

A large white truck stands in front of the community center. Some Russian-backed separatist fighters oversee the offloading of the truck. Whatever is inside the truck is brought inside the community center. Despite the large truck though, inside there is not a lot of promised aid inside.