The UN humanitarian coordinator in the country, Matthias Schmale, strongly condemned the attack.
“Today, an inter-agency convoy of four humanitarian trucks, clearly identified as belonging to the UN, carrying aid, was attacked by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation while delivering aid to the town of Bilozerka, Kherson region,” he said. a declaration.
“Intensive artillery fire”
Aid workers from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) were on a mission to a community that had not received help for months.
“When aid workers were on site, intensive artillery fire began, then during unloading.two clearly marked trucks from the World Food Program (PAM) were targeted by first-person view drones,” he said.
“Fortunately, the aid workers were not injured, but two trucks were damaged and set on fire. »
Not a target
The convoy was carrying hygiene kits, medicines and shelter materials, Andrea de Domenico, Ukraine’s senior OCHA official, said in a video posted on social media.
It showed one of the WFP trucks damaged on the side of a road, with flames and black smoke billowing from the top.
“It is extremely important to (remind) all parties that humanitarian aid must be facilitated and humanitarians must be protected,” he said.
Mr. Schmale noted that “Deliberately targeting humanitarian workers and humanitarian resources is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and could constitute a war crime..”
He added that “the Kherson region has also seen an increase in drone attacks, injuring civilians,” which must stop.
“All measures must be taken to protect civilians and humanitarian workers. International humanitarian law must be respected,” he said.
UN human rights monitors recently reported that at least 214 civilians were killed and nearly 1,000 injured in Ukraine in September.
Nearly 70 percent of casualties occurred near the front line, with particularly high numbers in the Donetsk and Kherson regions.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
