Two aid workers, a Canadian and a Spaniard, were killed on Sunday near Bakhmout in eastern Ukraine in an attack that Kiev blamed on Russian troops as Moscow organized disputed elections in the annexed territories.
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“This Russian bombing shows once again how close war is for all citizens of the world,” commented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday evening, condemning this “attack by Russian terrorists on a volunteer car.”
The victims are the Spanish Emma Igual and the Canadian Anthony Ihnat, who worked for the NGO Road to Relief. Emma Igual, 32, was director and co-founder.
According to the NGO, the attack occurred on Saturday morning in Hasiv Yar, near Bakhmout. “After a direct hit, the vehicle rolled over and caught fire,” she said.
Moscow held elections in Ukraine’s annexed territories this weekend, with President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party unsurprisingly victorious, according to the Russian Election Commission.
Despite strong condemnation from the West, in September 2022 Russia announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions over which it only partially controls – Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk – after “referendums” not recognized by the international community. Kiev and its allies have already denounced “illegal” elections.
The killed aid workers had now left Slovyansk and were on their way to Bakhmout to find out about the needs of civilians who had been “caught in the crossfire” in the city of Ivanivske.
“All my love and support in these difficult times goes out to the family and loved ones of the Spanish humanitarian worker Emma Igual (…). “Spain stands by its humanitarian workers who put their lives at risk for others through their work,” responded Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.
Canada has confirmed the death of one of its nationals without providing further details.
Road to Relief said two of its volunteers, Ruben Mawick, a German national, and Johan Mathias Thyr, a Swedish national, were “injured by shrapnel and burns”, adding that they were taken to hospital in a “stable condition”.
Mr Thyr, 34, was hospitalized in Dnipro, central eastern Ukraine, and told Swedish daily Expressen that his vehicle had been attacked by a “drone” that was probably aimed at the driver.
“We overturned and the vehicle caught fire. We were helped by soldiers who took us to the hospital. It happened so quickly. From the moment we drove into the ditch, it only took a minute for the car to burst into flames,” he testified.
In March 2022, shortly after the start of the conflict, Emma Igual, who comes from Barcelona, founded the NGO Road to Relief together with the Frenchman Henri Camenen, which is dedicated to the evacuation of civilians far from the front. in Ukraine.
In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle published in July, she explained that her Jewish grandmother fled Austria during World War II and was adopted in Spain after losing her entire family in the death camps.
“I grew up with this story and felt what it must be like to be a refugee or an orphan. I was determined to help people in a similar situation,” she testified.
The Donetsk region has seen the worst fighting since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and Moscow called for the area’s annexation last year.
The Battle of Bakhmut, captured by Russian forces in May, remained one of the deadliest of the invasion, with Ukrainian forces now pushing back Russian lines along the city’s northern and southern flanks.
In February, 33-year-old American rescue worker Pete Reed died near Bakhmout when his vehicle was hit by a missile.
In May, AFP journalist Arman Soldin was killed in a rocket attack in Hasiv Yar.