Zelenskyy criticizes the absence of the Red Cross in the flooded area of Kherson under Russian control
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his daily address to the nation on Wednesday night, criticized the International Committee of the Red Cross for failing to initiate rescue operations in Russian-held territory, which was threatened by the destruction of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine was affected.
In his speech, the Ukrainian President explained that dozens of cities and thousands of houses were flooded in the Ukrainian-controlled area after the Russian “terrorist attack” on the Kakhovka Dam and that the evacuations by Ukrainian rescue services are continuing “under Russian artillery fire”. “Savages,” he calls.
But he also turns his attention to the part of the region that is under Russian control and whose situation he says is “catastrophic”. “The occupiers just left people in these horrific conditions, with no water, no rescue, just on the roofs of flooded communities,” he denounces, “another deliberate crime by Russia,” for which he is calling on international aid organizations to offer help. ” a fast answer”.
“We need international organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross to immediately join the rescue operation and help the people in the occupied part of the Kherson region,” said Zelenskyy. He also stated that “every person who dies is a judgment for the existing international architecture and international organizations that have forgotten to save lives.”
“The fact that there are no international organizations in the disaster area now means that they don’t exist at all, that they don’t work,” added the Ukrainian leader, who also stated that the Kyiv government had done “everything necessary” regarding requests .
He also recalls that Ukraine had already warned about what could happen at the dam last fall. “We demand the dispatch of an international monitoring mission to Kajovka and the demining of the hydroelectric power plants.” “Unfortunately, the attention of the world was not enough to prevent all this. Now we must focus the world’s attention on eliminating the consequences of another Russian-caused catastrophe and preventing further destructive activities by the occupiers.”