DONETSK – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is set to continue to provide assistance for the re-construction of health care institutions demolished during the conflict in the Donetsk region, said Sanela Bajrambasic, an ICRC representative in Donetsk.
“We are planning to help rebuild hospitals in Horlivka, Vuhlehirsk, Nikishyne and Dokuchaevsk, since they were damaged during the conflict. Discussions are also underway about repairing a morgue in Donetsk,” she told reporters on July 27.
She said that over 20 medical institutions in the region already received ICRC aid in the form of medications and expendable supplies over the period from February to June.
“The aid was sent to 12,000 patients in 22 medical institutions,” Bajrambasic said.
She added that one of the aid recipients is Voda Donbassa (Donbas Water), the firm that is repairing water pipelines.
“A total of 7.3 kilometers of pipes were sent. Another four more tons of building material arrived with the latest delivery,” the ICRC official said.
Commenting on an incident in which several vehicles of the international organization were sprayed with paint in Donetsk, Bajrambasic urged locals to distinguish between ICRC and the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe).
“The ICRC and OSCE are two different organizations with different mandates. The ICRC is an impartial, neutral and independent organization, with an entirely humanitarian mission, aimed at helping and protecting the dignity of victims of armed conflicts,” the ICRC said.
On July 23, residents of the Donetsk People’s Republic staged a rally outside a hotel, where the OSCE and ICRC were staying, to express their discontent with the international organizations, and they spray-painted the vehicles of the organizations’ missions.
