Skip to content
Edit post

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

by Dinara Khalilova August 8, 2023 7:33 PM 1 min read
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)
This audio is created with AI assistance

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…

News Feed

2:27 AM

Russia's strike on Sumy Oblast kills 2.

Russia attacked the Esman community in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast on Oct. 8 with guided bombs, killing two civilians, local military administration reports.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.