Media: Employees of the "russian Red Cross" may be involved in the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war
Kyiv • UNN
An investigation by the russian media revealed that employees of the russian Red Cross may be involved in the ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war held in colonies in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Employees of the "russian Red Cross" may be involved in the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war in colonies, including in the occupied territory. According to UNN, this is stated in an investigation by the russian media, which is partially cited by the Ukrainian bureau of Radio Liberty.
Details
According to russian media outlets, including Medusa, representatives of the russian Red Cross regularly visit the occupied territories and collect money for the russian military and their families, and Ukrainian refugees can be received in the same room as "members of the russian Red Cross" or given cups with the letter z.
The journalists also found out that moscow separately finances the "russian Red Cross" from the federal budget. In 2023, the russian branch received more than $5.5 million from the International Committee of the Red Cross. And in the coming years, it will receive more than $20 million from the russian budget, which is provided, among other things, for work in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
One of the Ukrainian prisoners, Orest Hrytsiuk, who was held captive in a colony in Horlivka, Donetsk region, until April 2023, told about visits from people who were called russian representatives of the Red Cross. There were two of them, and they were present during the feeding of the prisoners. The Ukrainians were given very hot food and forced to eat it very quickly. One of the Red Cross representatives called the prisoners "Ukrainian pigs." After the meal, the prisoners were taken to the parade ground and forced to sing Soviet military songs in a chorus, Hrytsiuk recalls. He said that a representative of the Red Cross filmed it.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) believes that Orest Hrytsyuk incorrectly identified the persons he mentioned as representatives of the Red Cross. The ICRC representative in Ukraine, Ashil Despres, said that the ICRC has never said that the colony with Ukrainian prisoners was visited by employees of the "russian Red Cross". Ariana Bauer, Director of the ICRC's Regional Operations Department for Europe and Central Asia, assured that there are no employees of the "russian Red Cross" on the Ukrainian territories.
However, the authors of the investigation point out that the "russian Red Cross" does not talk about its work in the occupied Ukrainian territories and may use proxy organizations for this purpose. However, they operate under the Red Cross brand, being called the "Donetsk Red Cross" or the "regional public organization "Red Cross Society in the luhansk people's republic".
Context
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is the world's largest humanitarian aid organization. It includes the International Committee of the Red Cross and national societies in 192 countries.