Relations between Ukraine and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are governed by the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Committee on the Establishment of an ICRC Mission in Ukraine dated December 5, 1995 (which entered into force on July 14, 2004).

In connection with the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Russian armed aggression in the east of the country, the ICRC Mission in Ukraine began its work in April 2014.

The ICRC Mission staff includes 750 employees. In addition to the central office in Kyiv, ICRC field offices are located in six cities across Ukraine (Dnipro, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and the temporarily occupied cities of Donetsk and Luhansk).

Since October 2025, Juan Pedro Schaerer (Switzerland/Argentina) has served as Head of the ICRC Mission in Ukraine.

ICRC’s activities in Ukraine from 2014 to 2021

During that period, the ICRC regularly provided humanitarian assistance to affected civilians, particularly in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories. According to the organization, more than 3 million Ukrainians received various types of assistance from the ICRC (food, non-food items, financial aid, psychological support, etc.) totaling nearly $360 million.

The ICRC Mission actively supported the efforts of Ukraine to prevent and control COVID-19 outbreaks in Ukraine. With the support of the President of Ukraine, on April 2, 2020, an ICRC emergency humanitarian aid shipment—weighing nearly 13 metric tons and measuring 39.3 cubic meters—was promptly airlifted from Geneva. It included medical instruments, supplies, as well as disinfectants and medical masks/respirators.

ICRC activities in Ukraine in 2022–2025

The ICRC has supported Ukraine’s humanitarian efforts aimed at minimizing the consequences of the Russia`s war of aggression.

Despite significant budget cuts the organization faced in recent years, the ICRC’s humanitarian operation in Ukraine remains one of its largest and highest-priority operations worldwide. The budget for ICRC operation in Ukraine in 2026 amounts to 155.5 million Swiss francs.

Between 2022 and 2025, the ICRC provided 952.4 million Swiss francs worth of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine; specifically, in 2022, expenditures for these operations totaled 381.6 million Swiss francs; in 2023—245.7 million Swiss francs; in 2024—167.3 million Swiss francs; and in 2025—157.8 million Swiss francs.

Throughout 2025, the ICRC:

- provided humanitarian aid to nearly 200,000 people in the form of food and hygiene kits and essential items;

- provided cash assistance to 33,860 people to help them get through the winter, to 3,029 people - to cover their basic needs, and to 468 people - to start or restart small businesses;

- supported 145 social institutions and provided assistance to 14,258 people for farming or livestock raising;

- delivered 212,363 units of demining equipment and materials to the State Emergency Service, the State Specialized Search and Rescue Service, and the National Police of Ukraine, and conducted training for 507 specialists;

- improved heating, water, and electricity services for 1,914,008 people by supporting and restoring critical infrastructure;

- provided materials and financial assistance to 2,016 households to repair damaged homes;

- supplied 69 hospitals and 29 primary health care centers with medical equipment, medicines, and supplies;

- provided psychological and psychosocial support to 3,382 people and conducted training sessions for 290 psychologists;

- conducted training sessions for 150 employees of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine on the treatment of prisoners of war in accordance with international humanitarian law;

- provided financial assistance to 1,334 families of prisoners of war, missing persons, and the deceased, and referred 301 families to receive legal assistance;

- since 2022, has facilitated the exchange and transfer of information regarding nearly 20,670 missing persons through national information bureaus, and has provided confirmed information on the fate of more than 15,900 individuals to their families;

- provided logistical support for the humanitarian crossing of the Russia-Ukraine border for 731 persons;

- issued 384 emergency travel documents to facilitate border crossings;

- assisted in conducting 14 operations to repatriate the bodies (remains) of fallen soldiers;

- trained 255 forensic medical specialists to handle the bodies of the deceased;

- delivered 200,000 DNA sample collection kits to aid in the identification of missing persons;

- provided equipment and supplies to 21 DNA laboratories of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and supported 12 forensic medical examination bureaus and 25 forensic medical institutions;

- strengthened the capacity of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society by training 473 staff members and volunteers and providing vehicles, ambulances, equipment, and personal protective equipment.

The main areas of the ICRC’s work in Ukraine include:

- support for the health care sector and emergency medical care (providing medical facilities with medication, equipment, supplies, etc.; psychological support for victims; training for mental health and psychosocial support professionals; supplying first-aid kits; evacuating the wounded and sick);

- meeting basic needs (food and non-food items; cash assistance; blankets, heaters, and coal for heating homes; food and hygiene kits, household items; assistance to social institutions);

- critical infrastructure and urgent housing assistance (delivery of chemical reagents for water treatment; supply of equipment and materials for repairing water and sewer systems; supply of drinking water; restoration of electricity; restoration of hospitals and outpatient clinics;

support for heating utilities; provision of generators and transformers; repair of residential buildings and social infrastructure);

- protecting human life with dignity and upholding international humanitarian law (facilitating communication between families and prisoners of war and detained civilians; searching for missing persons; providing financial assistance to families who have lost loved ones, whose relatives are missing, or who are being held captive as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion; assistance to forensic medical institutions and correctional facilities; mine action; training for officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Police on international humanitarian law; support for the dignified handling of the remains of the deceased and facilitation of the repatriation of the remains of fallen service members).

- strengthening the capacity of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society to provide humanitarian aid.

During regular contacts with ICRC, emphasis is placed on the need to intensify the Committee’s efforts to ensure that Russia respects and fulfills its obligations under international humanitarian law, first and foremost to ensure the ICRC’s access to Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians unlawfully detained or deprived of their liberty by Russia, as well as to ensure decent conditions of their detention and treatment in accordance with the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

In addition, the ICRC is actively involved in the process of returning deported or forcibly displaced Ukrainian children to Ukraine, which is taking place with the mediation of Qatar.

The ICRC plays an important role in searching for missing persons, determining their fate or whereabouts—including confirming their status as prisoners of war—and reestablishing family contacts. Since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion, ICRC has received more than 788,000 calls, letters, and emails regarding the search for missing military personnel and civilians. Between 2022 and 2025, the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency helped determine the fate or whereabouts of more than 18,000 persons. It also facilitated the delivery of more than 34,400 letters between prisoners of war and their families.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the ICRC has been providing assistance and actively participating in the process of repatriating the remains of fallen soldiers.

High-Level Meetings

During his visit to Ukraine (November 2–7, 2020), the President of the ICRC was received by the President of Ukraine, as well as by the Prime Minister of Ukraine and the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Reintegration, and the Ministry of Justice.

During his visit to Ukraine (March 14–19, 2022), the President of the ICRC was received by the Prime Minister of Ukraine and the heads of relevant Ukrainian ministries. On March 3, 2022, a telephone conversation also took place between the Prime Minister of Ukraine and the President of the ICRC.

From February 16 to 22, 2026, ICRC Director-General P. Krähenbühl visited Ukraine. During his stay in Ukraine, the ICRC Director-General had meetings with Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs M. Betsa, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine I. Vereshchuk, and the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights D. Lubinets.

During her visit to Ukraine in December 2022, M. Spoljaric, President of the ICRC, held meetings with the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Minister for Foreign Affairs,

the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and the heads of the Kherson and Mykolaiv regional state administrations.