A volunteer of the rapid response unit of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) was not on the wanted list at the time police officers stopped the evacuation vehicle in Mykolaiv region on August 14.
"The Ukrainian Red Cross Society emphasizes that at the time the vehicle was stopped, the volunteer of the rapid response unit of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society was not wanted. During the stop at the scene, he was also not informed that there were plans to deliver him to the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support (TRC) for a military medical examination with subsequent possible mobilization," reads an additional clarification by the Ukrainian Red Cross Society on Facebook on Sunday.
The URCS noted that the evacuation of people who were in the vehicle at the time of the stop was continued and successfully completed, albeit with a delay, by other volunteers of the organization.
"The Ukrainian Red Cross Society understands the requirements of current legislation on mobilization and military registration. For its part, the organization has a significant number of volunteers who were mobilized, and recognizes that the issue of deferment/reservation for volunteers currently lacks proper legislative regulation. At the same time, this situation involves special circumstances: at the time of the stop, the volunteer was directly performing a complex humanitarian task – evacuating civilians from a dangerous area," the statement notes.
The organization stressed that it currently lacks a clear understanding of the conditions under which Ukrainian Red Cross Society volunteers can unhinderedly perform tasks related to rescue and emergency relief for people, particularly when working in or transiting through Mykolaiv region, while simultaneously complying with military registration legislation.
"Such uncertainty already creates additional risks to the continuity of humanitarian activities and directly affects the ability to involve volunteers in population evacuation, emergency response, and assistance to victims," the statement says.
The organization emphasized that the Ukrainian Red Cross Society is open to a constructive dialogue with state authorities to develop a clear mechanism for cooperation that will simultaneously ensure compliance with legislation and the continuity of humanitarian aid to people.
As reported, on August 14, during the evacuation of civilians from Kherson, police officers in Mykolaiv region stopped a vehicle of the Kherson Regional Rapid Response Unit of the URCS and removed the driver from continuing the trip.
The crew was evacuating people from vulnerable categories of the population, including an amputee, a three-year-old child, a person with cancer, and their family members.
