Ukraine announced Monday that it had requested the U.N. and the Red Cross to assist with humanitarian efforts in Russia's Kursk region following a cross-border incursion by Ukrainian forces.
Kyiv's military remains in the Kursk region more than a month after launching the assault, in which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv has taken control of about 100 settlements. Russia's Defense Ministry said Monday its forces had regained control of two more villages.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said he had instructed his ministry to invite the U.N. and ICRC to work in the Kursk region Sunday. The ministry confirmed that it had issued the requests.
"Ukraine is ready to facilitate their work and prove its adherence to international humanitarian law," Sybiha said on X after visiting the Sumy region, from where Ukrainian forces launched the cross-borer attack.
He said the Ukrainian army was ensuring humanitarian assistance and safe passage to civilians in the Kursk region.
The Foreign Ministry said the invitations had been sent to the ICRC and U.N., "taking into account the humanitarian situation and the need to properly ensure basic human rights in the territory of the Kursk region."
It said it had asked the ICRC to monitor Ukraine's compliance with the principles of international humanitarian law.
It was not immediately clear how or whether the U.N. or ICRC had responded.
Russia's state-run TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying such statements were "provocative." He made clear Moscow, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, expected the U.N. and ICRC not to accept the invitations.
A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the Kremlin's reaction showed a disregard for the humanitarian needs of its own people and a fear of letting international observers see the situation in Kursk.
Russia's state-run RIA news agency said ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric had arrived on a visit to Moscow and planned to meet Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Last week, Russian shelling killed three Ukrainians working for the ICRC and wounded two others in a village in the frontline Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials said. Spoljaric has condemned the attacks.
