– It is very shocking to witness intensive bombing in violation of international law on civilian targets and civilian infrastructure. Men in ties and uniforms sit safely in heated Kremlin offices and Russian command posts inside and outside the Ukraine, and decide to bomb the supplies of electricity, heat and water to grandmothers, children, families, the disabled and pensioners who they suffer massively.
Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary General Jan Egeland told Dagbladet. He has returned home after staying in different parts of Ukraine, including the big cities of Kharkiv and Kiev, for a week. The impressions were strong for Egeland.
– They freeze and have no running water. One can imagine a cabin in the countryside in a Norwegian winter with no heating or running water and with shell holes in the roof and walls. Then there will be only suffering, says Egeland.
The Secretary General is deeply moved when he speaks of the war and the suffering of the civilian population. Several times during the conversation he has to take breaks.
He expresses great concern about what winter might be like in Ukraine after a long period of Russian attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
– We are more afraid of an infrastructure breakdown, a long-term collapse of electricity, heating and water supply. This is closely related. Without electricity, fresh water pumping systems cannot function. When we were in Kiev, there was no electricity or electricity in the hotel for a day and a half.
POWER OUTAGES: Several parts of Ukraine have been hit by long periods without electricity following Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure. Here from Odessa at the end of November. Photo: Oleksandr GIMANOV / AFP / NTB
sea View
The power outage visible from space
– Very good impression
Egeland is no stranger to staying in areas of war and conflict. When he was 19, he went to Colombia to do relief work. He was also the United Nations special envoy for peace negotiations in the country. In 2015, he was appointed senior adviser in the Syrian peace negotiations.
He has also been to Somalia and Palestine, marked by wars and conflicts for many years. While around half of the population in these countries are children and young people, the situation is completely different in the east and south of Ukraine. In many places there is a large majority of elderly, disabled and disabled people.
– It made a big impression walking in the sleet, sleet and rain in the villages of eastern Ukraine where we distributed emergency aid packages with food to the elderly who lived alone in partially destroyed houses. The elderly here are unable or unwilling to evacuate or flee.
– We distribute as many hygienic boxes with diapers to the elderly as we give to children in Ukraine. There are many bedridden people. I have met elderly women caring for their dying male spouses. They said they can’t and won’t escape.
While traveling in Ukraine, Egeland spoke with several of the country’s residents. Photo: Myriam Renaud / NRC
sea View
No response from the Russians
For the Norwegian Refugee Council, there are several major challenges in carrying out aid work in Ukraine. One of the largest is gaining entry along the front lines on the Ukrainian side. But the Norwegian Refugee Council has also been trying to carry out relief work in Russian-controlled areas.
– We have repeatedly made contact with Russian diplomats, and I have sent letters directly to Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister, Sergej Lavrov, ed) that we want to carry out humanitarian activities for the Ukrainians in the areas controlled by Russia. The answer we get is that we need to talk to the local authorities in the occupied areas. And when we contact them, we get no response.
LETTER RECEIVED: Jan Egeland and the Refugee Agency have repeatedly attempted to ask the Russian authorities, here in the person of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, to be allowed to carry out humanitarian activities in Russian-controlled areas in Ukraine. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP/NTB
sea View
– Worse every hour
– Crimes against humanity
Egeland doesn’t want to share what he thinks of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he is clear what he thinks of Russia’s bombing of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
– We condemn, unconditionally, what we consider a violation of international law. It is a crime against humanity to exclude women, children, the elderly and the disabled. Russian decision makers must hear this all the time. Diplomats and other politicians need to talk to the Russians and try to convince them, Egeland says.
When asked whether it is possible to start a dialogue with the Russians in the future, Egeland replies:
– We can’t give up. I am alarmed by this rhetoric that there is a military solution. There must be a negotiated final solution. This war can go on for a long time, and infinitely longer than many think.
Several military experts consider it realistic that Ukraine could drive the Russians out of the country. Egeland does not rule it out, but warns that this will be very costly for the civilian population if there is never a negotiated peace solution.
– They can, but it will be a destroyed Ukraine. And they will still share an infinitely long border with an infinite number of broken families. There is an army of soldiers who speak, but often do not know the humanitarian conditions.
Jan Egeland is clear that we need to work hard for a peace solution in Ukraine. Photo: Myriam Renaud/NRC
sea View
– Basically failed
Norway must do it
Since the war broke out, Norway has donated money, equipment and weapons to Ukraine. Private individuals have also contributed a lot. The Norwegian Refugee Council informs Dagbladet that it has raised a total of NOK 77.5 million so far this year from individuals, associations and municipalities. Business in Norway and internationally also contributed large sums.
Egeland believes there are four things Norway must do in the war in Ukraine. The first is to maintain humanitarian aid allocations to Ukraine.
– The needs are enormous. 14 million people are refugees in or from Ukraine. Norway is a large and good donor to Ukraine. Humanitarian organizations have received substantial funds. Much comes from Norway, even more from the USA and other countries. It is the largest humanitarian operation in the world, without comparison, says Egeland.
He also recalls that Norway, together with European countries, must cooperate to offer help so that electricity supplies and basic infrastructure do not break down.
Since the war broke out, Norway has received nearly 34,000 asylum applications from Ukrainians, figures of UDI. Egeland believes Norway should accept more Ukrainian refugees.
– We must remember that only about 1% of all Ukrainian refugees will come to Norway. If 70,000 to 80,000 are coming to Norway, then that’s one percent of the seven to eight million who have left or will leave Ukraine this winter, Egeland says.
He believes that Norway should also put pressure on Russia and pressure it to stop bombing Ukraine.
– The international community must succeed in making it clear to Russia that it is not mainly soldiers who freeze. I’m still out in the open anyway. It is the grandmothers, the bedridden sick and the disabled who can die of cold, says Egeland.
