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Official: 78 Ukrainian first responders killed by Russia's full-scale war

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Official: 78 Ukrainian first responders killed by Russia's full-scale war
The first responders are working on the site of Russia's missile strike on Lviv, Ukraine, on July 6, 2023. (The State Emergency Service/Telegram)

Since the beginning of the all-out war, 78 Ukrainian first responders were killed in Russian attacks while doing their job, the State Emergency Service's spokesman Oleksandr Khorunzhyi said on Aug. 8.

An additional 280 emergency workers have sustained injuries, according to Khorunzhyi, cited by Ukraine's Defense Ministry media center.

Russia violates international conventions by attacks against the first responders as they don't take part in hostilities but rescue civilians and provide aid, the official added.

On Aug. 7, Russia's missile strike against Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, killed seven people, including Andrii Omelchenko, a senior official within the regional emergency service department.

Colonel Omelchenko was 52 years old. "He gave half of his life to the service," Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram.

According to Donetsk Oblast Governor Kyrylenko, the Pokrovsk attack injured seven first responders. As of 11 a.m. local time on Aug. 8, a total of 88 people were confirmed wounded, said Kyrylenko.

Two more emergency workers sustained injuries on Aug. 7 in a Russian air strike on Kharkiv Oblast's village of Kruhliakivka. Russian troops hit the settlement again when the first responders arrived at the scene of the first strike.

Endless Russian assaults near Kreminna test Ukraine’s defenses
Editor’s note: The Kyiv Independent is not disclosing the full names or deployed positions of the Ukrainian soldiers interviewed in the story due to security concerns amid the ongoing war. Donetsk Oblast – The narrow, partly destroyed road through the Serebrianskyi Forest in the northern part of Do…
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Dinara Khalilova

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Dinara Khalilova is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a news editor. In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News’ team in Ukraine. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master’s degree in media and communication from the U.K.’s Bournemouth University.

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