Ukraine: ICRC teams preparing for safe passage of civilians and delivering humanitarian aid in Mariupol

An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team is in Zaporizhzhia with pre-positioned relief items and medical supplies to be ready to facilitate the safe passage of civilians out of Mariupol and bring aid into the city. For logistics and security reasons, the team is ready to lead the safe passage operation tomorrow, Friday, provided all the parties agree to the exact terms, including the route, the start time, and the duration. It’s desperately important that this operation takes place. The lives of tens of thousands of people in Mariupol depend on it.

Lucile Marbeau, an ICRC staff member present with the teams preparing the operation tomorrow, said: “We have just arrived in Zaporizhzhia. We're here because really, we hope to be able to facilitate safe passage for civilians desperately wanting to flee Mariupol. We are also here with two trucks of assistance, hoping that we can get that assistance in. In these trucks, there is food, medicine, relief items for those civilians who decide to stay in Mariupol and who will need to be both protected and to have humanitarian aid.”

This operation is critical. Time is running out for civilians in Mariupol and in other frontline areas who have now gone for weeks with no humanitarian assistance. For this to work tomorrow, militaries on the ground need to give civilians and humanitarian organisations security guarantees and practical agreements to allow aid in and for those who wish to evacuate safely.

Should this operation be happening ICRC’s role will be to lead the convoy out of Mariupol.

Note to editors:

1. The ICRC has been working in Ukraine since 2014, supporting people affected by conflict. Since the recent escalation of the crisis, we have brought over 500 tons of medical supplies, food and relief items into the country to respond to skyrocketing humanitarian needs. We will continue to scale up our work and now have teams in 10 locations across the country.

2. Established in 1863, the ICRC operates worldwide helping people affected by conflict and armed violence and promoting the laws that protect victims of war. A neutral, independent and impartial organization, its mandate stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and works in more than 100 countries.

For more information:

Jason Straziuso (English, French), ICRC Geneva, jstraziuso@icrc.org , Tel.: +41 79 949 35 12

Crystal Wells (English), ICRC Geneva, cwells@icrc.org , Tel.: +41 79 642 80 56

Chris Hanger (English, German, French), ICRC Geneva, changer@icrc.org , Tel: +41 77 260 26 79

Loglist :

ICRC Ref: 20220331-Ukraine-Mariupol

Date: 31.03.22

Camera: ICRC

Duration: 00:58

00:00   Soundbite Lucile Marbeau, ICRC talking from Zaporizhzhia

“I'm Lucile from the ICRC. We have just arrived in Zaporizhzhia. We're here because really we hope to be able to facilitate safe passage for civilians desperately wanting to flee Mariupol. We are also here with two trucks of assistance, hoping that we can and also get assistance in. And in these trucks, there is food, medicine, relief items for those civilians who decide to stay in Mariupol and who will need to be both protected and to also have humanitarian aid.

00:29 ICRC trucks loaded with aid leaving Dnipro on their way to the pre-positioning area in Zaporizhzhia

00:58  ENDS