A Russian attack on a humanitarian convoy in the city of Zaporijia has left 25 people dead and 28 injured, South Ukraine governor Oleksandr Starukh said Friday.
In a statement on the Telegram platform, Starukh said Russian forces had attacked a humanitarian convoy headed for Russian-occupied territory.
The governor also published images of burnt vehicles and corpses lying on the road.
Starukh said the organizers of the humanitarian convoy planned to travel to the Russian-occupied territory to rescue family members and then take them to safety.
The governor said relief teams were at the site of the attack, which has so far not been claimed by Russia.
In the wake of this attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia a “terrorist state” and “bloodthirsty scum.”
“Only complete terrorists can do that,” Zelensky said. “Bloodthirsty scum! You will surely have an answer. For every lost Ukrainian life!” he said.
The attack comes as Moscow prepares to annex Zaporijia and three other Ukrainian regions: Lugansk, Donetsk and Kherson.
On Thursday, the Kremlin had announced that the four regions of Ukraine, which held referendums on its accession to Russia between September 23 and 27, will now be incorporated into the country.
Official annexation was already expected after the vote in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, whose inhabitants, Moscow claimed, largely supported the formal annexation of these areas by Russia.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized that the so-called ‘referendums’ were held in the occupied regions during the active armed conflict, in areas under Russian occupation and outside the legal and constitutional framework of Ukraine, so “they cannot be of real expression of the popular will”.
Separatist talks in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporijia have been condemned by Kiev and the West, who call the referenda “democratic farces”.
In the case of Kherson, a region bordering the annexed Crimean peninsula, more than 87% of voters supported Russian annexation, while more than 93% of participants in Zaporijia supported the option, according to pro-Russian sources.
The military offensive launched by Russia on February 24 in Ukraine has already resulted in nearly 13 million people being displaced — more than six million internally displaced and nearly seven million to neighboring countries — according to the latest UN data. the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community at large, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and Russia to impose sanctions in all sectors, from banking to energy and sports.
The UN presented 5,587 civilian deaths and 7,890 injured as confirmed, stressing that the actual numbers are much higher and will not be known until the end of the conflict.
Source: DN
