Allegations are mounting in Kyiv that the Red Cross is not doing enough for Ukrainian prisoners of war. The organization should visit the prison camp in Donetsk in the next three days, according to the call. But international law binds the hands of the charity.
According to its own statements, the Red Cross has been trying in vain for months to visit more prisoners of war in Ukraine. After criticism from Ukraine that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) does not pay enough attention to Ukrainian soldiers in Russian captivity, ICRC spokesman Ewan Watson said in Geneva: “We share the frustration.” Employees could only visit prisoners if the warring parties agreed. They are required to do so under international law. The safety of ICRC staff must be guaranteed.
The head of the Kiev President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, called on the ICRC in a video link to visit the Russian prison camp Olenivka near Donetsk in the next three days. “We cannot waste any more time. Lives are at stake,” he said.
More than 50 Ukrainian prisoners were killed in an explosion in Olenivka in July. Russian-led separatists in Donetsk claimed a Ukrainian missile hit the prisoner barracks. Ukraine believes a bomb was deliberately detonated in the building. Independent photo analyzes of the destruction also suggest this. The ICRC has not yet managed to gain access to the camp.
The ICRC is not a “club with privileges, where you get a salary and enjoy life,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening video address. “The Red Cross has obligations, primarily moral ones.” He called Olenivka a concentration camp.
According to Watson, the ICRC visited a few hundred prisoners of war on both sides. But there are thousands. He didn’t want to give details. The ICRC appealed to both sides of the conflict to allow access to prisoners of war.
