Zelenskyy pays tribute to foreign aid worker killed in Russian strike on Donetsk

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday paid condolences to the families of two foreign aid workers who died in Chasiv Yar, Bakhmut after their van was hit by a Russian anti-tank missile in the Donetsk region. Anthony Ignat of Canada died in the attack, while  Emma Igual of Spain was also killed, as was confirmed later. Two other volunteers –German citizen Mawick Ruben and Swedish citizen Johan Mathias - were critically injured in the incident at the frontline. They are being treated at a hospital in Dnipro. 

“This Russian shelling once again confirms how close the war against Ukraine is to everyone in the world who truly values human life and who believes it is the common moral duty of humanity to stop terror and defeat evil,” Zelenskyy said in an Telegram post.

Four aid workers employed with Ukrainian NGO

Foreign aid workers were killed as the Russian shell struck their van. The team of four was employed with the Ukrainian NGO. A barrage of Russian drones targeted at the Ukrainian Capital Kyiv wounded at least one civilian and caused widespread damage. According to the NGO's statement on social media, the four aid workers were evacuating the injured from the front-line areas when the Russian shelling commenced.  The workers took refuge in the van and were trapped. The vehicle flipped over due to the shell striking it near the town of Chasiv Yar, a city in the battered region of Bakhmut. It went up in flames killing all inside on the scene. 

Humanitarian organization Road to Relief announced in a statement that Canada's Anthony Ihnat died on the spot, while German medical volunteer Ruben Mawick and Swedish volunteer Johan Mathias Thyr were critically injured from the shelling. Van's fourth passenger, the director of the organization identified as Emma Igual, a Spanish national is unaccounted for. His whereabouts were unknown for up to several hours. Spain’s Acting Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares later told the reporters that a “verbal confirmation” had been received about the death of the 32-year-old. 

 Earlier yesterday, Zelenskyy was urged to intervene in the case of a British soldier who was sentenced to an estimated 12 months in jail over charges of desertion. Alexander Garms-Rizzi, 21, escaped his regiment deployed in Estonia and joined Ukraine’s foreign legion during the initial days of the war. He fought on the frontline near the southern city of Mykolaiv and then returned to the UK. He became the first UK  soldier to be imprisoned for deserting the army in Ukraine.