The ICRC activities in Russia and Belarus, 2025

Helping people affected by the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine

• The ICRC continued supporting families of servicemen and with missing relatives. In 2025, our teams in Moscow answered over 45,000 calls from families enquiring on their relatives and delivered Red Cross messages
  from their captured relatives. The ICRC also strived to warn families of scams targeting them and impersonating the Red Cross. 
  
  In September, in order to strengthen joint efforts to counter scams, the Moscow Delegation held a roundtable “Humanitarian Cybersecurity: Joint Strategies Against Online Fraud and Impersonation” at the International Technology Forum, with the participation of Russian authorities, the Russian Red Cross, cyber experts and technological companies.
   
• In June, ICRC forensics teams participated in a large-scale repatriation of fallen soldiers between Russia and Ukraine, upon the request of the parties. They provided technical advice and material support to allow the return of human remains in a dignified manner. Such operations are an important step towards identifying the deceased soldiers and bringing closure to their families. Regular repatriation of fallen soldiers continued throughout the year as well, with the ICRC participating in 16 simultaneous repatriation operations between Russia and Ukraine.
   
• In its role as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC continued participating in operations to help vulnerable people join family members on either side of the front-line. These operations significantly increased in 2025. They included the repatriation from Ukraine back to Russia of 78 civilians originally from Kursk region, in coordination with relevant authorities from both sides, including the office of Mrs Moskalkova and the Russian Red Cross.
   
• In 2025, the ICRC launched a new program — the micro economic initiatives — in Belarus and Russia. Its aim is to improve the income of people displaced by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine by supporting their businesses or helping them build new ones. As time passes, displaced persons’ needs change, as they seek to rebuild their lives and create sustainable sources of income. This assistance program comes on top of others, all coordinated with the Belarus Red Cross and Russian Red Cross. In June 2025, 1 billion RUB of direct cash assistance provided since 2022 to displaced persons in Russia was reached.