Russia hit Red Cross vehicles in east Ukraine, killed 3: Zelensky

Russia hit Red Cross vehicles in east Ukraine, killed 3: Zelensky
A cargo truck of the International Committee of the Red Cross burns after a Russian military strike in the village of Viroliubivka, near a front line in Donetsk region, on Sept. 12, 2024. (Reuters)

KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian attack on vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Thursday in his country’s east had killed three people.

“Today, the occupier attacked the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in Donetsk region,” Zelensky said.

Artillery shelling killed three Ukrainian citizens working for the ICRC and wounded another two, the Ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights Dmytro Lubinets said.

The attack took place in the village of Virolyubivka, a dozen of kilometers away from the front line in Donetsk.

There was no immediate comment from Russia, which routinely says it only hits military targets.

The UN Humanitarian mission to Ukraine said 50 workers were killed or injured in Ukraine in 2023, including 11 killed in the line of duty.

“Since the beginning of the year, this repeated pattern of attacks appears to have intensified,” the UN humanitarian coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement in February.

AN-AFP

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