The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reacted to the death of employees of its humanitarian mission in the village of Virolyubivka in the Donetsk region.
As a result of Russian shelling on September 12, three employees of the Red Cross were killed, two more were injured.
Employees of ICRC came to give local residents fuel briquettes for heating their homes. At the time of the shelling, they were unloading aid, the locals were not injured by the explosion.
"I condemn attacks on Red Cross personnel in the strongest terms. It’s unconscionable that shelling would hit an aid distribution site. Our hearts are broken today as we mourn the loss of our colleagues and care for the injured," said the ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric.
The Red Cross missions regularly come to the Donetsk region. Their vehicles are marked with the emblem of the Red Cross. Any attack on ICRC is a violation of international humanitarian law.
The Red Cross calls for respect for international humanitarian law, including taking all possible precautions to ensure that humanitarian workers are not targeted or captured in hostilities.
A blow to the mission of the Red Cross
On September 12, Russian troops hit the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the village of Virolyubivka in the Donetsk region, probably with barrel artillery. Three employees died — they are citizens of Ukraine, said Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets. Two more workers were hospitalized with injuries, one of them is in serious condition.
The prosecutorʼs office started an investigation into the violation of the laws and customs of war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky then called on the world to respond "toughly and principledly" to Russiaʼs strikes.