One foreign volunteer has been confirmed killed, one missing, and two others injured in Donetsk Oblast after their van came under Russian artillery fire on Sept. 9. The volunteers, from the NGO Road to Relief were driving near the front-line town of Chasiv Yar around 10 a.m. when the attack took place, the organization reported.
According to the organization's Instagram page, there were four volunteers inside the vehicle: German medical volunteer Ruben Mawick, Swedish volunteer Johan Mathias Thyr, Canadian volunteer Anthony “Tonko” Ihnat, and Spanish volunteer and Road to Relief Director Emma Igual.
Mawick and Thyr were severely injured with shrapnel wounds and burns, but are both in a stable condition in separate hospitals in the area. Ihnat has been confirmed dead and his body has been retrieved, according to the organization. The status of the fourth member, Igual, remains unknown.
Road to Relief is a Ukrainian humanitarian NGO that was established in March 2022 to provide aid and support to the civilian population of Ukraine affected by the Russian invasion. According to the NGO's website, its volunteers are active in Donetsk and Kherson oblasts, "serving a total of 112 villages with a combined population of over 30,000 people."
Francis Farrell
(Updated: )
