Coordination Center: Red Cross has 130 representatives in Russia, 800 in Ukraine

This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by Bohdan Okhrimenko, head of the Secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

“We have ICRC offices in Kyiv, Dnipro and Odesa. In total, about 800 ICRC employees work in Ukraine. There are also representatives of the National Red Cross Society. At the same time, we have five camps for prisoners of war. Russia is a much bigger country, but they have only about 130 ICRC representatives. And there are more than 180 penitentiary institutions and colonies throughout Russia where Ukrainians are held. ICRC representatives complain that Russia does not allow them to visit the places of detention. But how can 130 people visit 180 places of detention when they use almost 800 employees to work in Ukraine in five camps?” – Okhrimenko said.

According to him, last year there was an ICRC report on the number of visits to prisoners of war. It included both visits on the territory of Ukraine and in places of detention in Russia. This figure amounted to almost 3,500 visits. Of these, 89% were visits to Russian prisoners in our camps.

When asked why there is such a small number of ICRC representatives in Russia, Okhrimenko replied: “The Russian Federation is a donor to the ICRC. If you do a little research, you will find out how much money Russia pays annually to the ICRC’s general budget. In turn, the ICRC staff is funded not by the country, but by the central office, and it is the central office that raises the issue of increasing the contingent. And if it does not raise the issue, it indicates a certain position.”

The representative of the Coordination Center believes that the ICRC leadership should take the initiative to increase its contingent, but this is not happening.

According to Okhrimenko, when the Russian side allowed ICRC representatives to visit the colony where Ukrainian servicemen are held, conditions improved immediately.

“They start feeding them, washing them, treating them, giving them proper clothes. They even repaired the cells. Then these places become exemplary. But when there are two dozen captured soldiers there, and the ICRC representatives are sent to this model colony once again, they should say, “Sorry, but we have already been here, show us the other 180 places of detention. If there is a refusal, then the entire arsenal of the ICRC’s powers should be used,” said the representative of the Coordination Center.

He stated that the ICRC does not fully utilize the possibilities of its mandate. In particular, the ICRC representatives in Russia do not fill out prisoner cards, but only approve general lists provided by the Russians.

In November 2024, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said that the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent were among the organizations to which the Ombudsman’s Office had complaints.

According to the Ukrainian ombudsman, the ICRC’s neutrality should not cover up their ineffectiveness, and the ICRC should be objective: saying that Ukraine fulfills the necessary obligations regarding prisoners and that the Russians do not.