ICRC – News Release
21 December 2022

Geneva (ICRC) – The office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Donetsk was hit by shelling, damaging the building and several vehicles. No ICRC personnel was killed or injured.

The shell, which landed in the yard of the ICRC office in Donetsk late Monday, was the third incident affecting the wider Red Cross family in recent days. On Sunday, an ICRC-supported hospital was hit again in Donetsk, killing two patients and injuring several. Last week a volunteer with the Ukrainian Red Cross emergency response team was killed during shelling in Kherson.

The ICRC strongly condemns the effects of the hostilities on our office and calls for respect of the humanitarian space, which is essential for neutral and impartial actors to deliver assistance to people affected by the Russia-Ukraine international armed conflict.

Strikes affecting Red Cross facilities are a reminder that the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas causes massive amounts of suffering for civilians, thousands of whom have been killed and injured in the fighting.

Under international humanitarian law, Parties have an obligation to take all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians and damaging civilian objects, including humanitarian facilities. Medical units and their personnel, as well as humanitarian relief personnel must be respected and protected.

The ICRC is in constant dialogue with the parties to the international armed conflict to remind them of their obligations under the rules of international humanitarian law.