Any information on the number and personal data of Ukrainian service members who left the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, which the International Committee of the Red Cross has or will have at its disposal, will remain confidential and will not be made public.
Mirella Hodeib, spokeswoman for the organization, told this to Ukrinform when asked how many Ukrainian defenders from Azovstal, including those wounded, have so far been registered with the ICRC and whether their lists will be published.
She said that this information is confidential. The priority for the ICRC is to verify the conditions of detention and treatment of prisoners of war, to prevent their disappearance and to maintain their contact with their families, Hodeib said.
She added that the registration of prisoners of war by the ICRC allows them to feel protected at least from the risk of disappearing.
Asked if the loved ones of Ukrainian defenders who were withdrawn from Azovstal could find out whether they had been registered with the ICRC, Hodeib said that families looking for information about missing relatives can contact the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency by e-mail [email protected], or by calling +41 22 730 3600 or +380 800 300 155.
In March, a separate bureau was set up within the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency to deal exclusively with an “international armed conflict in Ukraine”
As reported, Ukrainian forces defended Mariupol for more than 80 days. Their evacuation from the Azovstal steel plant, blocked by Russian troops, began on May 16.
Photo: Dmytro “Orest” Kozatsky, Azovstal
Source: ICRC not to release list of POWs from Azovstal steel plant
