Red Cross driver taken to TCC during evacuation of families from Kherson

In Mykolaiv region, police stopped a Red Cross evacuation crew that was transporting two families with children from Kherson. After inspection, the driver was taken to the TCC to undergo a military medical commission. The circumstances of the incident are currently being investigated, the Ukrainian side of the Red Cross and Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported.

The incident occurred on August 14 near the settlement of Shevchenkove in Mykolaiv region. The crew of the Kherson regional rapid response team of the Red Cross was performing an evacuation trip and transporting two families with children.

According to Red Cross representatives, the vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint for document verification. The organization claims that one of the police officers suspected the driver of being intoxicated and offered him to go for a blood test.

However, as stated by the team, instead of a medical facility, the driver was taken to a collection point to undergo a military medical commission. As a result, the families being evacuated from Kherson were temporarily left without a driver.

The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said that, according to information available to him, the driver did not have a reservation and was subject to mobilization. At the same time, the ombudsman emphasized that actions of state bodies should not endanger the evacuation of civilians from areas under Russian shelling.

“The law should be the same for everyone. At the same time, it is unacceptable that the actions of state bodies endanger the evacuation of civilians from territories under Russian shelling,” — noted Lubinets.

Subsequently, another driver continued the evacuation of the families. The National Police launched an official investigation to establish the lawfulness of the police officer's actions during the stop of the evacuation crew.

A separate check has also begun in the Ombudsman's Office. Lubinets reported the opening of disciplinary proceedings against the representative of the Commissioner in Kherson region.

Thus, the fact that the driver did not have a reservation is not disputed by the ombudsman, but the subject of the investigation is the circumstances of his delivery to the military medical commission directly during the humanitarian evacuation and the actions of officials in this situation.

Based on materials from: Dmytro Lubinets, Kherson regional rapid response team of the Red Cross