The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Lubinets demands to investigate the activities of the Russian Red Cross (RRC) for violating the principle of neutrality.
"Recently, information appeared on the Internet that the president of the Russian Red Cross (RRC) has a relation to the pro-Putin "patriotic" organization, and the employees of RRC talk about the impossibility of peace with the ʼUkrainian Nazisʼ," the message reads.
Lubinets also drew attention to the information that RRC is taking part in military meetings and training for children, where the ideology of continuing the war against Ukraine is spreading.
The Commissioner for Human Rights reported that he had sent a letter to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent with demands that:
- such actions were publicly condemned;
- a transparent investigation into the actions of the Russian Red Cross was conducted;
- for the duration of the investigation, the membership and participation of RRC in the community was suspended;
- if the investigation confirms the available data, it is necessary to demand that the organization be excluded from the federation.
On the official page of the International Federation of the Red Cross, there are currently no comments on this information.
The day before, VSquare published an investigation that RRC regularly cooperates with patriotic Russian military camps, and in January 2024, the head of the organization Pavlo Savchuk signed an agreement on cooperation with the "Artek" childrenʼs camp in Crimea. The EU and the USA imposed sanctions on camp director Kostyantyn Fedorenko due to the deportation of Ukrainian children.
- The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is the largest humanitarian organization in the world, designed to help people, in particular during wars. It includes the International Committee of the Red Cross and national societies in 192 countries of the world. One of them is the Russian Red Cross. In 2023, RRC received five million Swiss francs (thatʼs 210 million hryvnias) from the International Committee of the Red Cross. At the same time, RRC also receives money from the Russian budget and almost openly supports aggression against Ukraine.