INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A Russian strike on Red Cross vehicles in eastern Ukraine killed three people, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday."Today, the
occupier attacked the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in Donetsk region," Zelensky said.The
International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed that three of its staffers had been killed when shelling hit a site of a planned
frontline aid distribution in the region
It did not say who was behind the shelling."I condemn attacks on Red Cross personnel in the strongest terms," ICRC President Mirjana
Spoljaric said in a statement."It's unconscionable that shelling would hit an aid distribution site," she added."Our hearts are broken
today as we mourn the loss of our colleagues and care for the injured," she said
"This tragedy unleashes a wave of grief all too familiar to those who have lost loved ones in armed conflict."The attack happened in the
village of Virolyubivka, several miles away from the front line in Donetsk.The Red Cross said its team was preparing to distribute wood and
coal briquettes to vulnerable households to help them prepare for winter when their vehicles were hit.Two other staff members were wounded
in the attack, the Red Cross said, adding that the aid distribution "had not begun, and no residents were affected by the explosion."The
ICRC did not provide any details about the staff members who were killed, but Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro
humanitarians killed around the world over the last two years," it said.The UN Humanitarian mission to Ukraine said 50 aid workers were
humanitarian law, including by taking every precaution possible to ensure that those engaged in humanitarian activities are not targeted or
caught in hostilities," in its statement on Thursday.The strike came just days before Spoljaric is set to carry out a long-planned visit to
meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other senior government officials on "critical issues in conflicts globally, such as
the respect of international humanitarian law, prisoners of war, the fate of the missing, and protections for humanitarian workers," he
