Shelling kills 3 Red Cross workers in Ukraine

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed that three of its staff members were killed on Thursday after shelling hit the site of a planned frontline aid distribution in the Donetsk region, in the East of Ukraine.

Two additional staff members were injured during the attack. The distribution of humanitarian assistance had not yet begun, the ICRC statement reads, and no residents were affected by the explosion. It did not specifically address who was responsible for the shelling, though Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia.

The ICRC team was preparing to distribute wood and coal briquettes in Viroliubivka village to vulnerable households to help them prepare for the upcoming winter when the vehicles they were using were hit. 

“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. This tragedy unleashes a wave of grief all too familiar to those who have lost loved ones in armed conflict,” said ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric.

ICRC teams are regularly present in the Donetsk region and their vehicles are marked with the Red Cross emblem. “The deaths of three ICRC colleagues come amid a sharp rise in the number of humanitarians killed around the world over the last two years,” the ICRC said. 

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.

The news comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited Kyiv on Wednesday. They met President Volodymr Zelensky, who has repeatedly called for allies to loosen limits on the use of Western-supplied weapons. He wants to use long-range missiles against targets inside Russia.

This request has been denied for fear of escalation. On Wednesday, however, Lammy said the delivery of Iranian missiles to Russia has changed the debate. Although no decision has been made yet, US President Biden said his administration is considering lifting the restrictions.

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the heads of the British, French, German and Dutch embassies on Thursday, following the accusations of missile transfers to Russia and the imposition of new sanctions.

^{A photo taken and released by the National Police of Ukraine shows a burning truck of the International Committee of the Red Cross, following an artillery shelling in the Donetsk region © HANDOUT / National Police of Ukraine / AFP}