Two killed and three injured in Russian drone attack on evacuation team in Donetsk Oblast – photo
Two women have been killed and three people injured after Russian forces used a drone to strike a vehicle belonging to the Proliska humanitarian mission in the settlement of Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka in Donetsk Oblast on the morning of 20 March.
Source: Yevhen Kaplin, head of the Proliska humanitarian mission, on Facebook; Yevhen Tkachov, a Proliska humanitarian mission worker, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda
Details: Kaplin reported that the evacuation team working in the settlement had been attacked.
"It is a bad morning in Donetsk Oblast. An evacuation team of ours in Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka has been attacked by a Russian drone. Sadly, people are known to have been injured and a woman has been killed. We are currently doing everything we can to get them to hospital."
Update: In a comment to Ukrainska Pravda, Kaplin said that a woman had been killed in the Russian strike and three others injured: one is in a critical condition, another is in a serious condition, and the third sustained minor injuries. He also noted that the Russians had struck the top of a vehicle close to the humanitarian mission's emblem.
Update: Later, Kaplin reported that another woman had died in hospital. "One woman was killed instantly as a result of the strike. Another woman was seriously injured and died in hospital. They were 83 and 63 years old respectively. Two more evacuees were injured and doctors are currently fighting to save their lives," he said.
Quote from Kaplin: "This war crime once again underscores the Russian army's disregard for all norms of international humanitarian law. And the only thing that can realistically protect members of evacuation teams and evacuees in such conditions today is armoured vehicles and electronic warfare equipment, the use of which is still not recommended for humanitarian workers because they are considered dual-use or military-purpose items."
Background:
- In April 2025, during a 30-hour so-called Easter ceasefire declared by Russia, Russian forces carried out three consecutive FPV drone strikes near the vehicle of volunteer Yevhen Tkachov, who was evacuating civilians from the settlement of Zoria in Donetsk Oblast. Zoria is located south of Kostiantynivka along the Donetsk motorway.
- In 2024, Ukrainska Pravda journalists witnessed a strike by a Russian first-person view (FPV) drone on a car belonging to Yevhen Tkachov, a worker with the Proliska humanitarian mission from the UN Refugee Agency, while he was distributing humanitarian aid in Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!