Lubinets invites leadership of International Committee of Red Cross to visit Ukraine

He also stressed the need for access to Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians illegally detained by Russia. Lubinets reported this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

“I am currently on a working visit to Geneva, where I met with ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger,” Lubinets said.

The ombudsman expressed his fundamental disagreement and deep emotional outrage at the statement by the ICRC's regional director for Europe and Central Asia.

"Statements that put the aggressor state and the defending state on the same level are unacceptable and, at this level, even dangerous. Russia is waging war and deliberately targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leaving millions of people without heat, light, and water in severe frost. Our citizens, especially children, are freezing in kindergartens, schools, on the streets, and at home," Lubinets emphasized.

At the same time, he invited the ICRC leadership to visit Ukraine and see the consequences of Russian strikes with their own eyes: “Perhaps then the words on paper will once again correspond to reality.”

During the meeting, the parties also discussed: the problem of ICRC access to Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Russian Federation and illegally detained civilians, as well as the organization's involvement in their verification; the establishment of an effective system for searching for missing persons; ICRC support for Ukrainian citizens who want to leave the temporarily occupied territories; and the issue of prisoner exchanges, which was given a lot of attention.

"The ICRC needs access. But first and foremost, it needs access to Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians who are being illegally detained by Russia. This is the organization's mandate. And it is precisely the lack of systematic access to our people in captivity for years that undermines trust in the ICRC," Lubinets emphasized.

At the same time, he drew the attention of the ICRC leadership to the fact that Ukraine expects the international organization to consistently implement its humanitarian mandate.

As reported by Ukrinform, the ICRC published a statement “condemning” the recent strikes on critical infrastructure “in Ukraine and Russia.” The statement referred to the affected cities - Kyiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, and Belgorod in Russia - where “millions of people are without electricity, water, and heating or have limited access to them in freezing conditions.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was summoning the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Ukraine to provide explanations regarding the committee's statement condemning the strikes in Ukraine and Russia.

Photo: Dmytro Lubinets, Telegram