Under fire for aid move, Russia lashes out at Ukraine, Lithuania

By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Russia on Friday defended its decision to send a humanitarian aid convoy into Ukraine without official permission, saying there was sometimes “no chain of command” in Kiev and that Moscow was fed up playing games with the Ukrainian authorities. Speaking to reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York, Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, also had sharp words about Lithuania, a temporary member of the U.N. Security Council, accusing it of systematically cutting down Russian U.N. initiatives with the aid of the United States and Britain.