Updated 00:16 Moscow time.
MOSCOW, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has halted activities in Ukraine for several days due to the death of its staff member in Donetsk, the organization’s press secretary in Ukraine Alina Murzayeva told RIA Novosti Saturday.
“We have halted our activities for several days, because now the most important thing for us is to put all the efforts into the safety of our staff members in Donetsk, and, second, take the body of our staff member to his family in Switzerland,” Murzayeva stated.
On Thursday, the authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic reported that the 38-year-old Swiss citizen Laurent DuPasquier, who was a staff member of the ICRC, was killed in heavy artillery bombardment of central Donetsk. Later, the ICRC confirmed the information.
Russia, as well as the European Union, the United States, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations has condemned killing of the Red Cross Committee's employee, calling for a thorough investigation of the case.
Ukraine has been engulfed in a violent internal conflict since mid-April, when Kiev began its military operation against independence supporters in the southeastern regions of the country.
The sides agreed on a ceasefire at a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine, held in Minsk on September 5. Another meeting of the Contact Group on September 19 resulted in a memorandum, specifying the implementation of the ceasefire and stipulating the creation of a 30-kilometer (18-mile) buffer zone, withdrawal of all heavy weapons from residential areas and the deployment of the OSCE monitoring mission in southeastern Ukraine.
Since the establishment of the ceasefire regime, the conflicting sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the agreement. However, the OSCE stated that the truce was generally holding.
