VSquare: Russian Red Cross cooperates with organisations involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children
The European newspaper VSquare has published an investigation that the Russian Red Cross officially cooperates with an organisation under Western sanctions, as it was engaged in the so-called "re-education" of children deported by Russia from the occupied part of Ukraine.
The Russian Red Cross also regularly cooperates with Russian patriotic military camps, where children as young as eight years old are taught to shoot Kalashnikov rifles and participate in close combat. In particular, in January 2024, the head of the Russian Red Cross, Pavel Savchuk, signed a cooperation agreement with the Artek children's camp in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The EU, the US, and the UK imposed sanctions on the camp's head, Konstantin Fedorenko, over the deportation of Ukrainian children.
According to the US Department of State, the Artek summer camp hosts Ukrainian children who are later placed in large-scale "patriotic re-education programmes" and are unable to return to their families.
At the end of February, VSquare found out that the Kremlin intends to allocate millions of euros to the Russian Red Cross to help establish four new regional and 62 local branches in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Five years ago, the head of the Russian Red Cross, Pavel Savchuk, became a member of the central headquarters of the All-Russian People's Front. In December 2023, this organisation launched the collection of the necessary signatures for Putin's official registration as a candidate in the March 17 presidential election.
The organisation also raises funds to help Russian military units fighting in Ukraine. In particular, they buy night vision devices, thermal and laser sights, bulletproof vests, etc.
In addition, Pavel Savchuk is a lecturer at the Russian Knowledge Society, an organisation founded by Putin and chaired by Sergei Kiriyenko, First Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration.
In the summer of 2022, Pavel Savchuk was elected to the governing board of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). This position allows him to travel to Geneva, where the IFRC is headquartered.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told journalists that they were aware of Savchuk's role in the general headquarters of the All-Russian People's Front organisation from 2019 to March 2022.
"Contrary to this statement, Savchuk was listed on the website of the All-Russian People's Front as a member of its general staff until mid-February this year. It was only after VSquare and our partners sent press inquiries to the Russian Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Cross that his name was removed from the list. In addition, Savchuk's public CV indicates that his position in the organisation is still valid,"
VSquare writes.
However, the All-Russian National Front is not the only group in which Savchuk is actively involved. Documents obtained by VSquare show that the Russian Red Cross is directly linked to the We Are Together movement.
According to the documents, the Russian Red Cross operates as part of the We Are Together headquarters to provide alleged "humanitarian aid" in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
"After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the main goal of this movement was to support the families of Russian soldiers. The association and its local branches organise fundraising campaigns that often contradict the principles of the Red Cross, openly supporting the military effort. They do this quite publicly, for example, by promoting on social media an initiative to send thermal weapon sights, camouflage nets and other equipment to Russian soldiers on the front line," the journalists note.
Savchuk is also a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation. It is another NGO created on Putin's instructions. Also, in mid-February 2024, Savchuk signed a cooperation agreement between the Russian Red Cross and the Defenders of the Fatherland NGO, which Putin also created. The agreement provides psychosocial assistance to the Russian military and their families.
