In the past, Expressen, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, EPN and several other media houses have jointly reported on how the Russian Red Cross has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Now it is revealed that Russian Red Cross personnel teach first aid and medical care at military-patriotic training camps, where children and young people are also trained in close combat and the use of weapons.
In addition, the Russian Red Cross recently signed a cooperation agreement with a children’s camp, Artek, on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula. Since last year, Artek’s director Konstantin Fedorenko has been under sanctions by the EU, Great Britain and the United States for involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children.
One of the basic principles of the Red Cross is neutrality and to never interfere in “political, ideological, religious or national conflicts”.
“We expect the IFRC to take swift action in accordance with its statutes, which includes actions such as suspension or exclusion,” says the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a comment to Expressen.
IFRC stands for International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. They have not yet commented on the information, writes Expressen.