Russian missiles aimed at Ukrainian cities do not only affect the civilians living there. They also have another catastrophic effect: the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Norwegian Refugee Council are stopping their operations until further notice.
After the Russian rocket attacks on Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities, leading aid organizations are stopping their operations there until further notice. “For safety reasons, our teams interrupted their work today,” said a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross on request. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has also suspended its operations until further notice.
NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland said they have staff in several of the cities that were attacked in the morning. The missions are suspended until it is safe to continue. One cannot help endangered people “when our helpers hide from a hail of bombs and fear repeated attacks,” explained Egeland. Protecting civilians and being able to reach them safely with humanitarian supplies is the priority of the NRC.
Egeland called on all warring parties to make this possible. “Once again, ordinary people are paying the ultimate price for this war. The parties to the conflict should not need a reminder that civilians and civilian infrastructure should never be a target,” Egeland said. The NRC is Norway’s largest charity. She has been active in Ukraine since the end of 2014 to help people who have been displaced by the conflict.
NRC employees on site have now reported attacks in Lviv, Ternopil and Dnipro, among other places. Russia had fired more than 80 rockets at Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine. At least eleven people were killed nationwide and at least 64 injured, according to the Ukrainian civil defense. According to Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, five people died and 52 were injured in Kyiv alone. According to Ukrainian data, mainly energy infrastructure objects were hit.
