Russian Defense Ministry Says ICRC Ceased Delivering Vital Drugs To Donbas

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2022) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has stopped supplying the Donbas republics with essential medicines under the pretext of the unstable situation in the region, the head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, said on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, chief physicians from the self-proclaimed Donbas republics said that the ICRC and the World Health Organization (WHO) ceased to supply HIV and tuberculosis treatment to local residents. The ICRC then confirmed "disruptions" in the supply of medicines.

"The International Committee of the Red Cross, under the pretext of the allegedly unstable situation in the Donbas, has stopped deliveries of vital drugs and products to the specialized health institutions of the people's republics for the diagnosis and specific treatment of patients with a weakened immune system, chronic infectious and endocrine diseases," Mizintsev told a briefing, adding that over 12,000 people will be left without necessary treatment in the next few months because deliveries of drugs have stopped.

The defense official also called on the WHO and the ICRC to resume regular deliveries of medicines to Donbas.