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Miladin Bogetic
Communications Delegate/Spokesperson
International Committee of the Red Cross
Kiev, Ukraine

July 2017

To questions by Lyubomir Dankov

Miladin Bogetic - Communications Delegate/Spokesperson - International Committee of the Red Cross. The Donbass conflict.

The conflict, the Minsk agreements

The International Committee of the Red Cross supports the Minsk Process. Any discussions between parties to the conflict which could help stop the fighting and alleviate the suffering of the local population are welcomed by the ICRC. The ICRC Head of Delegation Alain Aeschlimann participates in the work of the humanitarian subgroup in Minsk.

One of the ICRC’s initiatives presented to the parties, and discussed in Minsk on several occasions, is construction of a bridge across the Severskiy Donets River in Stanitsa Luganska. Making crossing there safer for everyone is an urgent humanitarian need, and making it easier for people from either side to cross the bridge in safety is our primary concern. The issue was again raised in Minsk on 19 July. ICRC stands ready to provide its services as a neutral intermediary, and will move ahead with the construction of the bridge only with the full agreement of both sides.

Latest figures show that between 8,000 and 10,000 people cross the existing bridge (which is in a terrible shape) on the daily basis; waiting time can last for hours in freezing or sweltering temperatures. People using that fragile footbridge are facing incredible difficulties, especially those who are frail and immobile, and those who have to be carried, such as the elderly and the sick. In the summer, an ICRC cooling point provides water, first aid and an area for civilians to rest while waiting. In winter, it is turned into a heated shelter where people can drink hot tea.

The ICRC is a neutral and independent organization, whose work is of purely humanitarian character. Our activities focus on protecting people affected by armed conflict and providing assistance to them. As a neutral, non-political organization, the ICRC does not comment on political developments or statements by different parties to conflict in Ukraine, or other countries and international actors.

The crimes against peaceful civilians

The International Committee of the Red Cross does not collect statistics on the numbers of killed or injured civilians. Other organizations, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), may be better sources of such information. The primary purpose of the ICRC is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with much needed assistance. The ICRC also endeavours to prevent suffering by promoting and strengthening respect for humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles.

One of those principles is that civilian targets and objects on which civilian wellbeing depends should not be attacked. In that context, the ICRC has proposed a creation of five safety zones in eastern Ukraine to protect vital infrastructure and provide the local population with permanent access to drinking water. The necessity to establish such zones arises from immediate security concerns and the present humanitarian situation. For example, often times maintenance workers cannot resume work at water intake stations because of the shelling. Civilians are at risk of losing access to drinking water sources. Shells fall next to water, gas and electricity facilities impeding access to them. Since these facilities are interconnected, all people living near the contact line are affected.

The ICRC thus proposes establishment of demilitarised zones that would be protected from attacks and not used for military purposes. For example, if the territory with a water intake station is controlled by one party, the controlling party should assume the obligation not to use this area for military purposes. Safety zones would be small areas agreed upon by the parties and marked on the map. Even in a conflict zone, according to international humanitarian law and rules, civilians need access to infrastructure. The areas where this infrastructure is located must not be targeted as it is used to support the life of the population.

The following five zones have been proposed by the ICRC: in Donetsk region, the water intake station on the Seversko-Donetsky canal, the Donetsk water filtration station and the Verkhnekalmiusskaya water filtration station. In Lugansk region, these should be the Karbonit settlement (in the area of Zolotoye town) and the Petrovsky drinking water intake station. If the parties agree to establish such zones, the effect may show soon, but the parties are required to comply with the agreements.

The fighting at the local level affects health and hygiene; it also affects the work of hospitals. Not only does the local population suffer from the open conflict – such actions lead to disruption of social infrastructure. As mentioned before, the primary purpose of the ICRC is to protect and assist civilians affected by armed conflict, which is why we came up with the proposal to protect these vital infrastructure objects.

The creation of a safety zone must be agreed by all parties either directly or through a neutral intermediary. The area designated as a safety zone should be clearly defined and marked. In order to maintain its protected status, military personnel and equipment should not be present inside the area. All military activities that could put its protection at risk should cease. The ICRC stands ready to act as a neutral intermediary between the concerned sides to facilitate the creation of safety zones.

The situation at the checkpoints for crossing the line

People are waiting for hours, if not for days sometimes, at crossing points, some of which have even been shelled in the daytime recently. The ICRC has called for concerted action to be taken to improve the situation for civilians trying to cross the line of contact, who wait exposed to heat, cold, and the threat of shelling and landmines. We hope that our efforts to fix the Stanitsyia Luganska Bridge crossing point will improve conditions in this regard (more information above).

We would like to remind all weapon barriers to make sure that civilian crossing points and other important objects of civilian use or marked with the Red Cross emblem are spared and respected under all circumstances and even during hostilities. We continue to appeal to all sides to facilitate the crossing of civilians through the existing check points. Another thing the ICRC has done is installing billboards and signs along the roads warning people not to go off roads because of the danger of mines. We have also erected a number of latrines for people waiting in lines to use so that they do not need to go into the fields and expose themselves to danger of landmines and unexploded ordnance.

The life of the people in the armed conflict

The ICRC has field offices in Severodonetsk, Slaviansk, Mariupol, Odessa, Lugansk and Donetsk, i.e. on both sides of the conflict line, both in GCA and NGCA. More than 300 of ICRC staff work in these offices, and interact with local populations on a daily basis. We are, therefore, very familiar with the problems and obstacles that people face in their lives. Families have been separated by conflict, and have problems getting back together. The ICRC’s programme for restoring family links and reuniting families is addressing that issue. More than 1,200 cases of missing persons have been recorded, and our teams are working with representatives of both sides, including by providing legal and forensic expertise, trainings, donating the much-needed equipment, etc. Thousands of people on both sides of the conflict line have lost their main sources of livelihood, and the ICRC is helping them by delivering food, hygiene and medical parcels, or occasionally repairing their houses. The ICRC also helps local people to start growing vegetables or raising chicken again, sometimes by direct donations of livestock, sometimes through cash transfers. As a result of the conflict, a number of people has experienced psychological traumas, and our teams of psychologists are on the field to provide individual and group counseling sessions. Emergency water deliveries have been organized in a number of places, including Avdeevka, Vuhledar, Pokrovsk, etc. Water scarcity and the vulnerability of the water system is a big problem. Our largest infrastructure project aims to provide more than 300,000 people in Pokrovsk with a source of water in case of breakdown of the main water supply from Voda Donbassa centralized network. The centralized network is extremely vulnerable as several key infrastructures are located on the contact line; in particular the First Pumping Station. Unfortunately, the pumping station is not operational and the dam of the reservoir is damaged. We are helping with the rehabilitation and construction of a new power line. Because the healthcare system on both sides of the contact line has been affected, which has a very adverse effect on patients, our organization has been providing surgical disposables, vaccines, insulin, and other essential medicine and equipment.

This gives you an idea of the needs of thousands of people directly affected and suffering because of the ongoing conflict, and what the ICRC has been doing to help them.

Your message

The conflict in eastern Ukraine is now in its fourth year, and has led to thousands of casualties and many more displaced. Hundreds of thousands live with the perpetual threat of shelling, shooting, and landmines. Their access to basics like food, water or electrical power has been dramatically curtailed. We also need to emphasize the extreme vulnerability of vital pieces of infrastructure – including water, gas and electricity installations – located on the front line and reiterate the ICRC’s call to establish safety zones in order to enhance their protection from the effects of the hostilities.

One of our key messages is that, as long as the conflict lasts, civilians and civilian objects, as well as key infrastructure objects, have to be protected and must not be attacked. All actors on the ground and anyone else internationally who could have influence on them should be working to ensure that the international humanitarian law is fully respected.