War in Ukraine: Red Cross denounces that it is still unable to access the fenced Mariupol

The Red Cross still does not have access to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, surrounded by the Russian army and the main epicenter of the war in recent days, the president of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) said today. , Francesco Rocca, after visiting Ukraine.

In a statement broadcast virtually from the Romanian town of Siret, on the border with Ukraine, Rocca said that neither the Ukrainian Red Cross nor the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) can carry out civilian evacuations or bring humanitarian aid to the besieged city.

“Hundreds of thousands of people are still there without electricity or water,” said Rocca, who these days visited the Ukrainian headquarters of the Red Cross (moved by the war from kyiv to Vinnytsia, also near the border with Romania) to supervise the operation. of humanitarian aid in the country.

With the exception of Mariupol, “in other parts of Ukraine the arrival of aid is improving,” Rocca said in a message on Twitter, who indicated that the 200 local branches of the Red Cross in Ukraine continue to work hard to serve those most in need. .

After managing to evacuate the civilian population of Sumy, another surrounded city, in recent days, “the Red Cross is now focused on helping internally displaced persons” (some 6.5 million according to the UN) who have fled to shelters or relatives’ homes.

An estimated 400,000 people have been trapped in Mariupol for more than two weeks amid heavy shelling that has cut off central electricity, heating and water supplies.

On Sunday, Russia demanded that the Ukrainian forces surrender and leave this port town, a strategic key for Moscow because it would help it unite the pro-Russian regions of Crimea and Donbas by land, but kyiv rejected this ultimatum.