Key points
- The evacuation team of “Proliska” came under a drone strike in Donetsk region.
- The incident occurred during the evacuation of civilians from settlements near the front line.
- Two women were killed, and others were injured.
- Among the injured were elderly people.
- The vehicle was marked as humanitarian transport.
- The mission regularly carried out evacuation trips in this area.
The evacuation team of the humanitarian mission “Proliska” came under a Russian drone attack while performing an evacuation operation in Donetsk region.
The Russian strike on the vehicle occurred at approximately 7:50 a.m. on Friday, 20 March. The team was carrying out evacuations based on requests from Druzhkivka and Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka.
There were seven evacuation requests from these settlements. In addition to residents of Druzhkivka and Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka, they were also due to evacuate, by handcart, an injured woman from Kostiantynivka: she had brought another injured person the day before but was herself wounded.
– head of “Proliska”, Yevhen Kaplin, on the “Suspilne. Studio” programme.
The evacuation vehicle was moving towards a safer area and was marked as humanitarian transport. At the time of the strike, there were four civilians in the vehicle: three women aged over 70 and a man over 60.
Just as our team was heading towards the injured woman from Kostiantynivka, it was struck by an FPV drone with a shaped charge from above, hitting the roof of the vehicle, in the compartment where those four people were located, whom we had managed to evacuate. The vehicle was civilian and unarmoured.
– Yevhen Kaplin on “Suspilne. Studio”.
As a result of the attack, two evacuated women were killed, while the other passengers sustained injuries of varying severity. The injured received medical assistance.
The vehicle bore appropriate markings of a humanitarian mission and was used exclusively for transporting civilians.
It was fully marked as an evacuation vehicle; there was a large, two-metre humanitarian mission “Proliska” sticker on the roof specifically for drones – impossible to miss. On the windscreen it stated that this was a civilian evacuation.
– Yevhen Kaplin on “Suspilne. Studio”.
Mission representatives note that the team regularly operated in this area and worked openly as humanitarian transport.
This vehicle had been operating daily in these settlements for evacuation over the past month. It was clearly visible to drone operators that it was a non-military, humanitarian vehicle protected under international humanitarian law, but unfortunately Russia has once again disregarded international humanitarian law.
– Yevhen Kaplin on “Suspilne. Studio”.
Such incidents increase the level of danger for civilians and humanitarian workers operating near the front line.
The Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine also stressed that civilians and humanitarian personnel must be protected in accordance with international law.
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