mariopolAn attack on the Caritas office in the heavily besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol has left seven people dead, including two employees, the Ukrainian aid agency reported. Caritas is a sister organization of the Dutch Cordaid foundation. “This news is appalling in every way. In a sense, these people are our colleagues,” a spokesperson told this site.
The office building of the Catholic organization is said to have been shelled by a Russian tank last month, according to Caritas. Two female employees and five family members who were hiding in the building were killed. “This dramatic news leaves our Caritas family shocked,” said Secretary General Aloysius John.
It is not clear how many people were in the office building at the time of the attack. It is also not known whether there were any injuries in addition to the dead. “It is very difficult to get in touch with our sister organization, because all communication lines in Mariupol are closed,” said a spokesperson for Cordaid Netherlands. “We do know that the majority of Caritas employees were evacuated safely before, but that two employees stayed behind. We don’t know why they did that yet.”
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Violated law of war
Cordaid CEO Kees Zevenbergen is ‘deeply shocked’ by the news. “It seems that aid workers have become a direct target of Russian attacks. Our sincere thoughts and prayers are with the deceased and their loved ones,” he said in a statement. According to Cordaid, the attack on the office is ‘another piece of evidence that Russia is violating the law of war’. “We have seen bombings on schools and hospitals before, and now also on aid organizations that provide first aid to people in need. Extremely shocking, this just cannot and should not happen!”
Since the beginning of the war, Cordaid has been working closely with Caritas colleagues in Ukraine and neighboring countries to provide humanitarian aid. ,,We see Caritas as our partner, a kind of sister organisation. This attack is therefore extra hard,” said a spokesperson. The relationship between the two organizations has been going on for a long time, he says. “Certainly in this terrible time, the cooperation is closer than ever. We provide technical advice and, of course, arrange financial support via Giro555 to allow the relief activities of Caritas to take place. We will continue with that, we will not let this drama deter us.”
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Largely Destroyed
Mariupol has been surrounded and under heavy fire for weeks. The city has been largely destroyed and there is a shortage of food, water and medicine. The city’s mayor reported this week that about 21,000 civilians have been killed in the city since the Russian invasion began. It is difficult to determine the exact number of victims, he said.
President Volodimir Zelensky previously said he thinks Russian troops in Mariupol were responsible for “at least tens of thousands” of deaths. The encirclement prevents humanitarian aid from reaching the residents and makes escape attempts more difficult.
Indeed, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Russia committed several human rights violations and violated international humanitarian law during the invasion of Ukraine.
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