KYIV: Russian forces struck a UN aid convoy in the partially occupied southern Kherson region of Ukraine on Tuesday, Kyiv and the UN said, adding there were no casualties in the attack. The United Nations said its convoy of four vehicles was clearly marked and came under attack from Russian drones and artillery while delivering aid to the frontline town of Bilozerka. "Such attacks are utterly unacceptable. Aid workers are protected by international humanitarian law and should never be attacked", said the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine Matthias Schmale. He added that two World Food Programme trucks were damaged in the strike, while local authorities said the remaining two were unscathed.
UNFPA, said the convoy was carrying 800 individual packages "containing essential items for older persons, women and girls". "The area has a very high proportion of older people, many of whom are unable to relocate due to drones and shelling and rely on humanitarian assistance for survival", Jacqueline Mahon, UNFPA Representative to Ukraine, said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called the strike "another brutal violation of international law, proving Russia's utter disregard for civilian lives and its international obligations". There was no immediate reaction from Moscow.
A senior official in the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, published a photo showing a white truck marked with the World Food Programme emblem on fire with plumes of black smoke rising above it. Ukrainian authorities and aid groups have said throughout the nearly four-year Russian war that their staff and facilities have come under bombardments from Moscow's forces.
The Kherson region, which Russia claimed to have annexed in 2022, is partially controlled by Russian forces, who launch daily attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities from the southern banks of the Dnipro river. Regional authorities said on Tuesday that three people had been killed by Russian artillery in the region's largest town, also called Kherson. One more civilian was killed by a small drone attack on a car in the nearby town of Nikopol.
Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he will go to Washington this week to see US President Donald Trump, to discuss air defences and how to put more pressure on Russia. Zelensky said he would join a Ukrainian delegation there holding talks with US politicians and companies; and he hoped to have his meeting with Trump on Friday.
Trump confirmed what would be the Ukrainian leader's third visit to the White House since January when a reporter asked if he plans to host Zelensky. "I think so, yeah", the US president said during a brief fuel stop as he travelled back to Washington from the Middle East. Zelensky highlighted that he had two phone calls with Trump over the weekend, during which they discussed the "challenges" Ukraine faces as Russian strikes target the country's energy infrastructure and the situation on the battlefield. — AFP
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