Red Cross launches probe into Belarusian executive’s visit to Ukraine’s Donbas

July 20, BPN. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has said that it is investigating the visit of Belarusian Red Cross (BRC) Secretary General Dźmitryj Šaŭcoŭ to the occupied territories of Ukraine, saying it could harm the organization’s humanitarian efforts.

The IFRC said the visit was not coordinated with other components of the movement and might have violated its principles and policies.

The Ukrainian Red Cross (URC) condemned the BRC and called for its expulsion from the international movement. It expressed concern about Šaŭcoŭ’s use of a symbol associated with Russia and the alleged involvement of the BRC in the deportation of children from Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Šaŭcoŭ.

Previously, the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs endorsed a report calling on the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for Alaksandar Łukašenka, who defended the transfer of children to vacation camps and health resorts in Belarus, an alleged war crime, as humanitarian effort.