Red Cross reacts to death of three staff members in Donbas, strongly condemning attack

Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has said that the ICRC members killed in the Russian attack today would have been distributing firewood and coal briquettes to vulnerable households in the village of Viroliubivtsi, Donetsk Oblast. 

Source: ICRC statement, quoting Spoljaric

Quote: "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." 

Details: The ICRC said their team was preparing to distribute firewood and coal briquettes north of the city of Donetsk when the vehicles they were using came under fire. The organisation’s statement did not specify who carried out the attack. 

However, it pointed out that its vehicles were clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem.

Background:  

• Three staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross were killed and two others were wounded this morning by Russian artillery shelling on Viroliubivka in Kostiantynivka hromada, Donetsk Oblast [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories – ed.].

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