Red Cross holds data of about 1,800 Mariupol defenders, cannot visit them

Director General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Robert Mardini, announced this at a press conference in Kyiv, Ukrinform reports.

Mardini noted that during the evacuation from Azovstal, the ICRC only contributed to the safe removal of defenders from the territory of the plant during communication with the parties to the armed conflict. According to Mardini, the Red Cross thought that after that they would receive permission to visit the Ukrainian military.

"We registered their data, believing that the ICRC would later receive permission to visit them. But we cannot guarantee the safety of prisoners of war after they have been handed over to the Russians, as it is simply beyond our ability to give such guarantees", Mardini said. 

The Director General of the ICRC noted that as of September 1, the organization's employees managed to visit only a few hundred prisoners of war from both sides of the armed conflict. Mardini also emphasized that ICRC employees will continue to try to gain access to those prisoners of war who have not been able to visit them so far.

At the same time, the ICRC does not know the exact number of the Ukrainian prisoners of war. 

"We constantly repeat publicly that it is the obligation of the parties to the conflict to grant the ICRC access to prisoners of war. We continue to discuss this at all levels of the official bodies of the Russian Federation and we also have a very constructive dialogue here in Ukraine regarding prisoners of war. But I cannot say that I am satisfied with the current state of affairs because there is a huge gap between what we can do and what we have to do according to the Third Geneva Convention", Mardini said.

In addition, the director general of the ICRC refused to talk about the conditions of detention of prisoners of war, explaining the refusal by the fear of not getting access to them. At the same time, Mardini emphasized that all the problems that the members of the organization see during the inspection are being solved.

"Our goal is to improve the conditions of their detention and change the attitude towards them for the better. You can believe me that my colleagues are really working hard to ensure decent conditions for prisoners of war and to ensure that the parties to this international conflict fulfill their obligations", Mardini said.