Humanitarian group warns Ukrainians: Information provided to UN could be used by the Russians

The humanitarian group the White Helmets has a warning for the folks of Ukraine: use warning when coping with the United Nations. The group has been working to assist civilians within the Syrian civil warfare and mentioned they’re seeing the identical patterns in Ukraine that they’ve seen in Syria when coping with the Russian army.

“Certainly, now we have seen many similarities between the battle in Syria and the battle in Ukraine,” mentioned White Helmets Director Raed Saleh. “The identical scenes of huge destruction brought on by the Russians that we have seen in cities like Damascus, rural Damascus, Aleppo and Idlib are being repeated in Kyiv, are being repeated in Kharkiv and different Ukrainian cities. 

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“And as everyone knows, the Russian army has no respect for the fundamental ideas of avoiding civilian targets or infrastructure or sparing pointless casualties. The Russians do not abide by these ideas.”

Saleh mentioned his group notified the U.N. via their humanitarian notification system of two medical websites solely to have them focused days later. He mentioned he believes the Russian army used the knowledge to focus on these civilian assist areas in violation of worldwide legislation. 

A joint funeral takes place at SS. Peter and Paul Garrison Church for 2 troopers who died within the east of the nation throughout latest combating.
(Dan Kitwood/Getty Photographs)

“One other factor that the U.N. has completed in Syria is that it allowed the Russians to weaponize assist that flows and into Syria,” he mentioned. “As everyone knows, the mechanism that enables entry of assist to Syria is renewed yearly, and Russia is all the time looking for methods to weaponize assist towards civilians, and I concern that the identical factor would occur to Ukraine. So my recommendation to Ukrainians is to method the problem with warning and to not share important areas, particularly hospital areas, with anybody.”

The United Nations responded to Fox Information Digital in a press release saying that their system notifies all events the place assist facilities are so each side can keep away from harming civilians. 

“The humanitarian notification system in Syria and elsewhere goals to facilitate the secure supply of humanitarian help. It does so by informing events to the battle of the areas of humanitarian services – warehouses and places of work for instance – and actions, for instance a convoy with humanitarian provides, in order that the events can issue them into their army operations to be able to keep away from hurt to them,” mentioned a U.N. spokesperson.

The worldwide group additionally mentioned humanitarian organizations just like the White Helmets select to present that info and know it’s shared with all sides concerned within the battle. 

Responders are seen on the scene after a constructing destroyed by a Russian rocket assault in downtown Kharkiv
(Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Company by way of Getty Photographs)

“You will need to stress that whether or not or not a humanitarian group or a celebration to the battle participates within the humanitarian notification system, all events to the battle have obligations below worldwide humanitarian legislation to not direct assaults towards civilians or civilian objects [including humanitarian personnel or assets] and to take fixed care to spare them all through their army operations,” mentioned the spokesperson.

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The considerations from the humanitarian group come because the violence in Jap Europe escalated over the weekend. The civilian dying toll can also be rising, with Ukraine’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs confirming the dying of 90 youngsters since Feb. 24. 

The White Helmets has plans to get entangled immediately in Ukraine with coaching movies and different sources which might be nonetheless within the works. Within the meantime, the group hopes the U.N. steps as much as name out perpetrators within the violence. 

“We imagine that the U.N. has a central position to play. We imagine that its establishments are important for the survival of civilians, particularly in war-torn international locations,” mentioned Saleh. “Nonetheless, we imagine that this position may very well be performed higher, may very well be improved, and that the U.N. ought to have the braveness to talk up and to desert that grey rhetoric that does not acknowledge the victims and does not identify the perpetrator.”