Two foreign aid workers killed in Russian missile strike in Ukraine

A Russian Ka-52 helicopter gunship fires rockets at a target at an unknown location in Ukraine.  (AP)
A Russian Ka-52 helicopter gunship fires rockets at a target at an unknown location in Ukraine. (AP)

Two foreign aid workers have been killed in a missile attack in Ukraine.

The NGO, Road to Relief, said four of its team members were driving near Bakhmut when “their vehicle came under Russian attack”.

It said the “direct hit” killed Canadian volunteer Anthony ‘Tonko’ Ihnat and left a German and a Swedish volunteer “badly injured with shrapnel wounds and burns”.

The statement also said the organisation’s director Emma Igual was in the car but said her “current status is unknown” but Spain’s Foreign Minister said a Spanish aid worker was among the dead.

Jose Manuel Albares said: “Unfortunately, I can confirm a missile hit a vehicle in which this Spanish worker was travelling who was working for a humanitarian NGO in Ukraine.”

He said they had “verbal confirmation of her death” but did not name her.

Road to Relief said they were “cooperating with both military and police to resolve all matters of concern”.

The group was working as a Needs Assessment team who go into villages on the frontline to deliver aid and carry out evacuations.

A Russian drone strike in Kyiv (REUTERS)
A Russian drone strike in Kyiv (REUTERS)

The attack came on the same day Russia launched nearly three dozen drones at Kyiv with blasts ringing out across the Ukrainian capital and the surrounding region for around two hours and debris falling across several city districts.

The state emergency service reported debris had fallen in three different districts, but there was no serious damage. Kyiv officials also said four people were wounded.

Regional Governor Ruslan Kravchenko wrote on Facebook that an unspecified infrastructure facility and eight houses had been damaged by the overnight strikes.

Ukraine‘s air force said the military destroyed 26 out of 33 drones launched by Russia, all of which targeted Kyiv and the region around it.

There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attacks. Moscow has conducted regular air strikes on Ukrainian population centres far from the eastern and southern front lines of its 18-month-old invasion.

A Russian attack killed 17 people on Wednesday in the eastern city of Kostiantynivka, Ukrainian officials said