Russian shelling kills three Red Cross workers in eastern Ukraine

A cargo truck of the International Committee of the Red Cross burns after a Russian military strike in the village of Viroliubivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine in Donetsk region, Sept 12, 2024. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

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

"Another Russian war crime. Today, the occupier attacked vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in the Donetsk region," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy 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 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.