Russian shelling kills three Red Cross workers in eastern Ukraine

The attacked ICRC lorry in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on Thursday Keystone

Russian shelling on Thursday killed three Ukrainians working for the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and wounded two others in a village in the frontline Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials said.

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“Another Russian war crime. Today, the occupier attacked vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in the Donetsk region,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X.

The village of Viroliubivka came under shelling, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram messenger app, reporting casualties.

“I condemn attacks on Red Cross personnel in the strongest terms. It’s unconscionable that shelling would hit an aid distribution site,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement.

The statement added that ICRC teams are regularly present in the Donetsk region, and their vehicles are marked with the Red Cross emblem.

The Swiss foreign ministry, through its head of communications Nicolas Bideau, described the consequences of the Israeli operations on X as “appalling”. “All parties must respect international humanitarian law. Civilians and humanitarian workers must be protected,” he said.

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Russian denials

The Prosecutor General’s Office said on Telegram that ICRC employees had brought fuel briquettes to residents for heating before winter. They were unloading the aid when the attack happened, it said.

Two employees were hospitalised, and one was in a serious condition, prosecutors added.

The Donetsk region, which Russian troops partially occupy, regularly comes under Russian shelling and airstrikes.

Moscow denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure in its invasion of Ukraine, although thousands of people have been killed in its attacks.

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