Ukraine's Foreign Ministry calls Red Cross statement on strikes "in Ukraine and Russia" shameful

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Ukraine to seek explanations over the committee's statement condemning strikes "in Ukraine and Russia".

Source: Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Telegram

Details: In its statement, the Red Cross condemned "recent strikes on critical infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia".

Listing the affected cities, the mission mentioned Kyiv, Dnipro, Donetsk and Russia's Belgorod.

Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha called the ICRC statement shameful. The head of the Red Cross delegation in Ukraine was summoned to Ukraine's Foreign Ministry for explanations.

Quote: "False moral equivalence between the aggressor and the country that is defending itself is unacceptable. Unlike Russia, Ukraine acts in accordance with international humanitarian law and our inherent right to self-defence.

It is therefore unsurprising that the ICRC's reputation is in crisis as a result of such statements, which whitewash Russian war crimes and further undermine trust in the organisation, especially given its long-standing failure to ensure systematic access to Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians illegally detained by Russia…

I also invite the people who drafted and approved this statement to leave their warm offices, come to Ukraine and spend a day in a cold home. Perhaps then they will regain their sense of reality."

Background: On 14 January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared the introduction of a state of emergency in the energy sector.

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