GENEVA – Civilians and critical infrastructure, such as water and power systems in Ukraine, must be protected from attacks in line with the rules of war, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said yesterday.
ICRC president Peter Maurer, in a statement issued after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine and struck major cities with missiles, said: "The use of weapons with wide area effects should be avoided in populated areas.
"Essential infrastructure must be spared, including water, gas and electrical systems that, for instance, provide civilian homes, schools and medical facilities with vital water and electricity supplies. Attacks carried out with new technologies and cyber means must also respect international humanitarian law."
Security permitting, ICRC teams would continue to repair vital infrastructure, supply health facilities with medicines and equipment, and families with food and other items, he said.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) yesterday urged all sides in the Ukraine conflict to respect international humanitarian law, protect civilians and essential services such as water and power supplies.
Maurer said in a tweet: "@ICRC teams are responding to urgent humanitarian needs and they must be able to continue their life-saving work."
The Geneva-based agency, which has some 600 aid workers across Ukraine, including 400 in the east, has been helping provide water in the Donetsk region after two water pumping stations were damaged by weekend shelling, disrupting water supplies to 1 million people.
Reuters