Social networks urge not to donate to Red Cross: What happened and why Ukrainian Red Cross is not behind this

Author

Mariia Makukha

Talks were held in Moscow between President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. As a result, the head of the ICRC announced a request to open an office in Rostov-on-Don "to improve the work of the organization in eastern Ukraine." This is reported by the Russian media.

"I would like to enlist your support in terms of strengthening the logistics structure in Russia in order to improve our work in Donbas and in other regions of Ukraine that are under the Russian military control. To do this, we sent a request to open a corresponding office in Rostov-on-Don," Maurer said, quoted by RBC and the Russian government news agency TASS.

He stated that the Red Cross will continue to remain neutral and put people and their needs first.

Recall that earlier Lyudmila Denisova, Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, said that in the settlements where Russian facist troops entered, so-called "humanitarian corridors" are being organized to deport residents to the aggressor country. Women, children, and elderly people are searched, Ukrainian documents and phones are taken away, and residents are sent to the border regions of the Russian Federation. There they are placed in concentration camps with subsequent relocation to the Russian depressive regions for settlement.

Public discontent

Peter Maurer's statements in Moscow caused indignation among Ukrainians. Many messages appeared on social networks urging people to stop donating funds to the organization.

The opening of an office in Rostov-on-Don is not the only claim Ukrainians have for the ICRC. In particular, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that the ICRC forbids using its emblem on Ukrainian vehicles carrying out a humanitarian mission. However, we note that using this emblem is clearly defined by international humanitarian law. During armed conflicts, it can be used by healthcare workers and institutions, including military doctors and medical military vehicles. It can also be used by the Red Cross representatives — it denotes their transport, premises, and humanitarian assistance that they provide.

The outlet Ukrainska Pravda published an open appeal in which it informed that the ICRC does not sufficiently help to evacuate the civilian population from the temporarily occupied territories. Note that this is one of the main functions of the organization.

"The whole evacuation that is now taking place in the Kyiv region is carried out mainly by the Ukrainian side (Ukrainian Red Cross, Ukrainian government officials, and volunteers), we do not see much involvement of the ICRC," said Vitaliy Vlasiuk, member of the Military Administration of the Kyiv region.

Tetiana Lomakina, Commissioner of the President of Ukraine, who coordinates the issues of humanitarian corridors, said that humanitarian convoys heading to cities and villages under siege are escorted by representatives of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

"And according to international standards for working in a war zone, there should be ICRC employees, their vehicles, their humanitarian supplies, their flags and symbols that show that this is a humanitarian mission. But we hardly see this in the humanitarian corridors of Ukraine. There is no ICRC in the Mariupol corridors," Lomakina said.

Principle of neutrality

It should be noted that one of the key principles of the Red Cross activities is the principle of neutrality.

"In order to maintain the public's confidence, the international movement cannot take any side in armed conflicts and join disputes of a political, racial, religious, or ideological nature," the organization says.

On 16 March, prior to his trip to Russia, Peter Maurer came to Ukraine, in particular to Kyiv, for a five-day visit "to call for better access of humanitarian organizations to the victims and more effective protection of the civilian population in order to alleviate the increasing suffering of the people."

He met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, Infrastructure Minister Oleksiy Kubrakov, and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko to discuss the humanitarian needs.

Due to its neutral status, the organization maintains a dialogue with each of the parties, which should help them resolve humanitarian crises. However, the experience of the month of the war in Ukraine shows that in practice this is not possible. The humanitarian problems of Ukrainians are only getting worse.

ICRC operation in Ukraine for 7.3 billion UAH

Peter Maurer, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in an interview with Segodnya that Ukraine is the largest operation of the organization.

"Our budget for Ukraine was about 75 million a year. We increased it and asked our donors for another 150 million. As a result, our budget for Ukraine now amounts to CHF 250 million (7,312.5 million UAH — ). That is, the donors are very generous in everything related to the situation in Ukraine. This will allow us to expand our activities," Peter Maurer said.

As reported on the organization's Facebook page, over the past month, the ICRC supplied more than 500 tons of medical goods and necessary assistance to Ukraine. In particular, fuel, generators, hygiene items, mattresses, and food products. There is no information about other major humanitarian projects that the ICRC would implement in "hot spots".

has asked the ICRC for comment on the matter, but has not yet received a reply. We will publish it as soon as we receive it.

Why Ukrainian Red Cross is not behind this

The Ukrainian Red Cross Society has published its official position in connection with the visit of ICRC President Peter Maurer to Moscow.

"The Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS/Ukrainian Red Cross) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are different organizations. The Ukrainian Red Cross has an exclusively national mandate and operates only on the territory of Ukraine," the statement reads.

As URCS stressed, this organization "has nothing to do with the official visit of the ICRC to the Russian Federation, the opening of offices or humanitarian centers in Rostov-on-Don."

In a commentary to , the Society explained that since February 24, the Red Cross of Ukraine had mobilized all its forces and involved the available resources to help the population of Ukraine. 280 local organizations, 24 regional ones, 500 employees, and 6,000 volunteers, of which 3,000 are reserve volunteers, help Ukrainians.

"The Ukrainian Red Cross Society provides humanitarian assistance, psychosocial support, conducts information activities regarding first aid, mine risk, and international humanitarian law, and rapid response teams save lives," the organization said.

Regarding the record amounts spent by the ICRC on the operation in Ukraine, the Ukrainian organization reported that they finance their projects exclusively from donations and funds donated by the National Red Cross Societies. Consequently, the Ukrainian institution is not behind the funds raised and spent by the ICRC.

The Red Cross of Ukraine reported that since February 24, 767.5 million UAH have been received into their accounts: from Ukrainian and international philanthropists (ordinary citizens and the corporate sector) — 357.2 million UAH and 410.3 million UAH from the National Societies of the Red Cross and the Red Crescents from different countries.

Instead of conclusions

A lot of Ukrainians accuse the ICRC of "playing along with Russia". While Russia is forcibly deporting Ukrainian citizens from the temporarily occupied territories to its own ones, the ICRC opens a new office in Russia and calls these people "temporarily displaced persons." The devastating war in Ukraine and the genocide of entire cities is called the "armed conflict in Ukraine" in the Organization, because, according to Peter Maurer, this is "the terminology of the Geneva Convention", and the word "war" is used more as a colloquial variant. That is, the words are used that are so similar to the narrative of enemy propaganda.

These and other actions that outrage Ukrainians stem from the principles of the ICRC and its renowned neutrality. The committee acts in such a way as to be able to help civilians who find themselves in a war zone, regardless of their citizenship. After all, none of the parties to the conflict will allow an organization that supports the opposite side to enter the occupied territories. In fact, the neutrality of the Red Cross is one of the key reasons for its existence.

However, in a war with a terrorist country that ignores international law, this can hardly be called an effective mechanism.