Red Cross urges all sides in Ukraine war to protect civilians and essential services

FILE PHOTO: Local residents gather near a cargo trailer loaded with boxes containing food and personal hygiene products during the distribution of humanitarian aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross in the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine, March 17, 2021. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday urged all sides in the Ukraine conflict to respect international humanitarian law, protect civilians and essential services such as water and power supplies.

ICRC President Peter Maurer said in a tweet: "@ICRC teams are responding to urgent humanitarian needs and they must be able to continue their life-saving work."

The Geneva-based agency, which has some 600 aid workers across Ukraine, including 400 in the east, has been helping provide water in the Donetsk region after two water pumping stations were damaged by weekend shelling, disrupting water supplies to 1 million people.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Alison Williams)