Since February 18, 2022 over 396,000 victims of the Ukrainian crisis have received humanitarian aid from the Russian Red Cross (RRC), Russia's oldest humanitarian organization. More than 68,000 more people have received monetary payments and more than 65,000 have used the RRC's hotline.
In total, 646,395 people have received assistance and support from the Russian Red Cross since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis.
“We have pooled all our resources to make sure we didn’t just help people in need once. We want to make sure that we fully immerse ourselves into their problems, identify their needs, help them socialise in a new environment and understand what else we can do for them. We have identified a great demand for psychological support and we intend to reinforce our efforts in this area this year. Since last February we have specifically provided humanitarian aid to 400,000 people affected by the Ukrainian crisis–namely, clothes food, rehabilitation and technical equipment and so on. We have provided psychosocial support to more than 21 thousand people and in total we have helped more than 650 thousand people during the Ukrainian crisis," said Pavel Savchuk, Chairman of the Russian Red Cross.
Most of the people who asked for assistance were in need of humanitarian aid. More than 396,000 people have received hygienic and basic essential items, food and clothing. Over 91,000 more people have received vouchers for grocery shops, pharmacies and clothing shops, and over 68,000 have received monetary payments worth between 5,000 and 15,000 roubles.
In addition, over 65,600 people have contacted the hotline of the Russian Red Cross (telephone number: 8 800 700 44 50) throughout the year. They have received first psychological aid, legal advice and assistance in reuniting family ties. In total, the RRC experts in cooperation with ether with the ICRC and the Central Tracing Agency have succeeded in finding 105 people.
In summer, the Russian Red Cross established a mobile aid facility in the Belgorod region in order to provide assistance to people affected by the Ukrainian crisis. Since July the aid facility has provided assistance to 3,661 people. In March 2023 the RRC is planning to establish another mobile aid facility in the Rostov region.
"The Russian Red Cross is the first organization to establish such mobile aid facilities in our country. People can use them to apply for a RRC maternity allowance and for assistance in restoring family links as well as to receive first psychological aid and psychosocial support”, says Pavel Savchuk.
