Kiev Calls Red Cross Refugee Office in Russia “Unacceptable”

On Saturday, the head of the Health Committee of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, Mikhail Radutsky, urged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) not to recognize as legitimate humanitarian corridors from Ukraine to Russia and to abandon the idea of opening an office in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.

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The parliamentarian, from the ruling People's Servant party, said in a statement that, according to available information, the Red Cross plans to open an office in the city, located in southwestern Russia, and dismissed the move as "unacceptable." He also called the evacuations to the Russian territory "an illegal abduction and deportation" of Ukrainian citizens.

On Wednesday, ICRC President Peter Maurer reported on his Twitter account that he arrived in Moscow to "continue talks with the Russian authorities."

The head of the organization detailed to RIA Novosti that discussions are underway with the Russian branch of the Red Cross to increase support for Ukrainian refugees arriving on Russian territory.

In addition, he announced that the ICRC had sent a request to open its office in Rostov-on-Don "to improve work in Donbass and other parts of Ukraine that are under the control of the Russian Armed Forces."

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereschuk said Friday that the international organization "made a very dubious decision to open a representative office in Rostov-on-Don, i.e. to help Ukrainians from the Russian side," RBC Ukraina reports.

"We will demand from the ICRC that people be returned to Ukraine. It should help them and organize a corridor to return them to Ukraine. Otherwise, it will be a party to a crime," he stressed, adding that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will ask the Red Cross for a note of clarification.

For its part, the International Committee of the Red Cross responded on its Twitter account that it "never helps to organize or carry out forced evacuations or deportations" and added that it is "a neutral, impartial and humanitarian organization." "This simply means we take action, never sides; we focus on needs; we help everyone, wherever they are," he stressed.

Meanwhile, the head of Russia's National Defense Management Center, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, reported on Saturday that 19,694 civilians, including 3,300 children, were evacuated from Ukraine and the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics to the Russian territory during the day. He specified that a total of 439,420 people, including 91,673 minors, have already been transferred to Russia since the beginning of the special military operation.