GENEVA, April 4 – An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team was stopped trying to reach Mariupol in Ukraine to evacuate civilians and is now being held in nearby Manhush, a said Spokesman told Reuters on Monday.
The team was “held in the city of Manhush, 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Mariupol,” ICRC spokesman Jason Straziuso told Reuters.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk said the Red Cross team was being held by “the occupation authorities”.
Straziuso declined to give details of who was holding the team, saying only that they were arrested by police. “It’s not a hostage situation,” he added, saying the ICRC is speaking to all parties to clarify the situation and ask for their release.
The Red Cross team wanted to reach the besieged city of Mariupol on Monday and evacuate some of the remaining residents who lack basic services. It was her fourth such attempt since Friday.
The organization pulled its team, which included workers with young children, from the port city in mid-March after they ran out of aid.
Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by William Maclean and Rosalba O’Brien