ICRC condemns attack on mission in Donetsk Region without mentioning russia

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) condemned the attack on the mission in the Donetsk Region without mentioning russia.

This is stated in a message on the website of the ICRC in Ukraine, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"I strongly condemn the attacks on Red Cross personnel. It is absolutely unacceptable that humanitarian aid distribution sites come under fire. Today our hearts are broken, we mourn the loss of our colleagues and provide aid to the wounded. This tragedy causes a wave of grief that is very familiar to those who have lost loved ones in the armed conflict," said the President of the ICRC, Mirjana Spolarich.

The ICRC notes that on September 12, three employees of the Committee were killed as a result of the shelling of the place where humanitarian aid was planned to be distributed in the front-line area of the ​​Donetsk Region, two more employees of the ICRC were wounded.

At the time of the shelling, the distribution of humanitarian aid had not yet begun, and none of the local residents were injured by the explosion.

A group of ICRC staff was preparing to distribute firewood and fuel briquettes to vulnerable households in the village of Viroliubivka, north of the city of Donetsk, to help people prepare for the coming winter, when the vehicles they were using came under fire.

It is noted that groups of ICRC employees are regularly present in the Donetsk Region and the vehicles of the Committee are clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem.

"The death of three ICRC staff comes amid a sharp increase in the number of humanitarian workers killed around the world over the past two years. The ICRC strongly urges compliance with international humanitarian law, including taking all possible precautions to ensure that those carrying out humanitarian activities do not fall under fire and were able to safely carry out their work in combat zones," the message reads.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada's human rights commissioner, was outraged by the ICRC's lack of reaction to the shelling of their mission in the Donetsk Region.

According to Lubinets, three citizens of Ukraine, full-time employees of the ICRC, were killed, and two more employees were injured due to russian artillery shelling in the village of Viroliubivka in the Donetsk Region.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expects a strong and principled reaction of the world to this event. He emphasized that russia perceives the reaction of the international community to the war in Ukraine and talks about the need to hear "both sides" as permission to continue killing.

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