Two Foreign Volunteers Killed During Russian Shelling in Donbas

Foreign volunteers came under Russian artillery fire near the front-line town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region. Two people were killed, and two more were seriously injured.

The Road2Relief organisation reports on Instagram that on Saturday morning, 9 September, four members of its team left Slovyansk towards Bakhmut to assess the needs of civilians caught in the crossfire in the village of Ivanivske. Their car came under Russian fire near Chasiv Yar. As a result of a direct hit, the car overturned and caught fire.

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 were in the vehicle.

The German and the Swede were badly injured with shrapnel wounds and burns. They are now in stable condition in hospitals.

So far, it has been confirmed that Anthony “Tonko” Ihnat died. His body was removed from the scene.

At the same time, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain Jose Manuel Albares told reporters about the death of a Spanish aid worker in Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, I can confirm a missile hit a vehicle in which this Spanish worker was travelling who was working for a humanitarian NGO in Ukraine. We have verbal confirmation of her death,” Albares said. He did not name the aid worker.

Road2Relief has been helping Ukrainian civilians and their evacuation in Donbas since last April. Volunteers helped rescue people from Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, and Bakhmut. The organisation also helped civilians in the Kherson region.

Bohdan Marusyak