The Red Cross has denounced this Tuesday to be the object of a campaign of disinformation mass about his work in Ukraine that is endangering its personnel deployed in the country. “We are seeing deliberate and targeted attacks, using false narratives and spreading this information to discredit ourselves,” said Ewan Watson, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The humanitarian organization has been working for several weeks in Ukrainian cities under the siege of the Russian army to facilitate accusations. However, messages have begun to circulate on social networks accusing her of having helped the forced evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from Mariupol toward Russia, information that they have assured is “absolutely false”. “We would never support any operation that went against the will of the people and against our principles,” Watson insisted.
In addition, the Red Cross is also being accused of setting up an office in Rostov, in southern Russia, to “filter the Ukrainians.” Although the organization is working on opening that office, it has stressed that this is part of a regional effort to respond to a massive humanitarian crisis.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, there has been “a huge flow of disinformation that we perceive as deliberate, directed and orchestrated through social networks (…) and that sometimes appears in the main media,” he said. “This has the potential to do real damage to our teams … on the ground and to the people we serve.
neutrality must be respected
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Another of the accusations made against the Red Cross is that they are not being neutral in their communication with both parties to the conflict. Watson has insisted that his neutral organization was trying to fulfill its mission of supporting and helping victims of the conflict wherever they were. “Our neutrality and our impartial humanitarian action must be respected,” she has said. In particular, the organization has submitted detailed proposals to organize evacuations from Mariupol, where some 160,000 people remain trapped.
“The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is getting worse,” Watson explained. “The level of death, suffering and disruption that we are seeing inflicted on civilians it is abhorrent and unacceptable. Time is running out for civilians in Mariupol and other frontline areas who have gone weeks without humanitarian assistance.” Both Russia and Ukraine must inform the ICRC of all prisoners of war taken in the conflict and allow humanitarian staff to visit them. “We hope that the parties will respect their obligations under the Geneva Conventions without further delay,” he stressed.