Russians targeting humanitarian workers in Ukraine as no one holds them to account - Ukraine’s Vice PM

Until a mechanism is introduced to ensure accountability for violations of humanitarian law, Russia will keep targeting the staff of international organizations deployed in Ukraine and cause suffering to the civilian population.

This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, Iryna Vereshchuk, who spoke at a discussion dedicated to World Humanitarian Day, reports an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Representatives from the Red Cross were repeatedly captured by the Russians along the humanitarian corridors and UN representatives were attacked, which we documented, and after that Russia has not been held to account,” she noted, adding that every warring party must abide by the laws and customs of warfare.

Vereshchuk also recalled Russia’s attacks on warehouses with humanitarian aid, humanitarian convoys, and officers of organizations with relevant mandates.

According to the Vice PM, the world should develop a mechanism of accountability for violations of such rules to make sure each side of the conflict refrains from such attacks and that civilian population does not suffer as much as Ukrainians do.

The coordinator of the UN system in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, called the deaths and injuries of humanitarian workers unacceptable, calling for respect for international law.

A warring party would not destroy kindergartens if it respected humanitarian law, he stressed.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, since year-start, as a result of hostilities in Ukraine, three workers of humanitarian non-governmental organizations have died and 16 have been injured.

At the same time, the Russian aggressors hardly provide humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable residents of the temporarily occupied territories.