Two aid workers, a Canadian and a Spaniard, were killed near Bakhmout, eastern Ukraine, in an attack attributed by Kiev on Sunday to Russian troops, as Moscow organized controversial polls in the annexed territories .
“This Russian bombing shows once again how close war is for all citizens of the world,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on Sunday evening, denouncing this “attack on a volunteer car by Russian terrorists.”
The victims are the Spaniard Emma Igual and the Canadian Anthony Ihnat, who worked for the NGO Road to Relief. Emma Igual, 32, was its director and co-founder.
According to the NGO, the attack took place Saturday morning in Tchassiv Yar, near Bakhmout. “Following a direct hit, the vehicle overturned and caught fire,” she said.
Moscow organized criticized elections this weekend in the annexed territories of Ukraine, where President Vladimir Putin’s party, United Russia, was victorious, unsurprisingly, according to the Russian electoral commission.
Despite strong condemnations from the West, Russia proclaimed in September 2022 the annexation of four Ukrainian territories that it only partially controls – Zaporizhjia, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk -, following “referendums” not recognized by the International community. kyiv and its allies have already denounced “illegal” ballots.
The killed aid workers had left Sloviansk and were heading towards Bakhmut to assess the needs of civilians “caught in the exchange of fire” in the town of Ivanivske.
“All my love and support in these difficult times to the family and loved ones of Spanish humanitarian Emma Igual (…). Spain stands alongside its humanitarian workers who, through their dedication, put their lives in jeopardy. danger for others”, reacted Sunday on X (formerly Twitter) the head of the Spanish government Pedro Sanchez.
Canada confirmed the death of one of its nationals, without wanting to give further details.
Road to Relief indicated that two of its volunteers, Ruben Mawick, of German nationality, and Johan Mathias Thyr, of Swedish nationality, had been “injured by shrapnel and burns”, specifying that they were hospitalized in a “stable” condition. “.
Hospitalized in Dnipro (east-central Ukraine), Mr. Thyr, 34, told the Swedish daily Expressen that their vehicle had been attacked by a “drone” which was probably targeting the driver.
“We overturned and the vehicle caught fire. We were helped by soldiers who took us to the hospital. It happened so quickly. It only took a minute from the moment we hit the ditch until the car was enveloped in flames,” he testified.
Originally from Barcelona, ??Emma Igual co-founded the NGO Road to Relief, which is dedicated to the evacuation of civilians far from the front line, with a Frenchman, Henri Camenen, in March 2022, shortly after the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, published in July, she explained that her Jewish grandmother had fled Austria during World War II and had been adopted in Spain after losing her entire family in the extermination camps.
“I grew up with this story, feeling what it must be like to be a refugee or to be an orphan. I was determined to help people in a similar situation,” she testified.
The Donetsk region has suffered the worst fighting since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, and Moscow claimed annexation of the territory last year.
The battle for Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian forces in May, remained one of the deadliest of the invasion, with Ukrainian forces now pushing back Russian lines along the northern and southern flanks of the city.
In February, 33-year-old American rescue worker Pete Reed was killed near Bakhmout when his vehicle was hit by a missile.
In May, AFP journalist Arman Soldin was killed by a missile strike in Chassiv Yar.
10/09/2023 22:37:48 – Kiev (Ukraine) (AFP) © 2023 AFP