Ukraine urges UN to condemn Russian attack on UN aid convoy in Kherson Oblast

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged U.N. member states to condemn Russia’s Oct. 14 attack on a U.N. aid convoy in Kherson Oblast, which left one truck destroyed and another badly damaged.

Sybiha wrote that the four trucks from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs were delivering  "food and vital aid."

Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote in a Telegram post that the attack happened near the town of Bilozerka and that Russian forces used both drones and artillery.

"Today, the 'second army' of the world defeated several tons of humanitarian aid. Terrorists — there’s nothing more to say," he wrote.

Russian forces have a history of attacking clearly marked humanitarian aid vehicles.

On Sept. 25, 2024, a Russian air strike on the city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, damaged a van belonging to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and injured three of the organization’s workers.

Earlier that month, on Sept. 12, 2024, a Russian strike on the village of Viroliubivka in Donetsk Oblast destroyed a white truck with a Red Cross logo carrying humanitarian aid, killing three employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross mission and injuring two others, authorities said.

Volunteers have also been targeted.

On  Jan. 30, British volunteer Edward Scott, a volunteer with the Ukrainian NGO Baza UA, was severely injured when the vehicle he was driving was targeted by a Russian FPV drone — despite the fact that it was marked with a bright red “evacuation" sign.

About a year earlier, on Jan. 26, 2024 a Russian FPV drone struck a volunteer's car in the front-line town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, destroying part of the humanitarian aid for locals.