Ukraine's ombudsman invites Red Cross leadership to Ukraine after their controversial statement
Photo: Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets (Vitalii Nosach/RBC-Ukraine)
During a visit to Geneva, Ukrainian representatives met with the leadership of the Red Cross. The Ukrainian side urged them to visit the country and assess the consequences of Russian strikes, according to Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets.
According to the ombudsman, a key topic of the talks was Ukraine’s principled disagreement with the rhetoric of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which he said effectively equates Russia and Ukraine in the war.
"Wording that places the aggressor state and the state defending itself on the same level is unacceptable and dangerous," Lubinets emphasized.
He underlined that Russia is deliberately waging war against civilians, systematically attacking energy infrastructure, hospitals, schools, and residential buildings.
"This is not an abstract confrontation, but a tactic of terror against peaceful people," the ombudsman said.
Lubinets also invited the ICRC leadership to visit Ukraine to see the consequences of Russian strikes with their own eyes.
"Perhaps then the words on paper will once again correspond to reality," he added.
The sides separately discussed ICRC access to Ukrainian prisoners of war and unlawfully detained civilians, the search for missing persons, and prisoner exchanges.
"It is precisely the lack of systematic access to our people in captivity over many years that undermines trust in the ICRC," Lubinets said.
Controversial Red Cross statement
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha recently criticized the Red Cross over a publication that effectively placed Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities on the same level as the situation on Russian territory.
Sybiha was responding to an ICRC statement expressing concern over attacks on critical infrastructure that left millions of people without electricity and heating.
In the Red Cross message, Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Dnipro, were mentioned alongside Belgorod, as well as Donetsk, which is under Russian occupation.
The ICRC has repeatedly faced criticism over the lack of full access to Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia.
As noted in OSCE mission reports, Russia has still not ensured full and systematic access for international organizations to prisoners on its territory and in the temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine.
