Two employees of Swiss aid organization killed in Ukraine
Published: Friday, Feb 2nd 2024, 15:10
Updated At: Friday, Feb 2nd 2024, 15:10
Retour au fil d'actualité
Two employees of the aid organization of the Protestant Reformed Church (Heks) lost their lives in Ukraine on Thursday. This was announced by Heks on Friday. A Heks spokesperson said on request that, according to current information, they were French.
According to a Heks press release on Friday, several people were injured in the attack. Heks media spokesman Dieter Wüthrich said that according to initial findings, no Swiss nationals were among the injured. The Heks does not yet know exactly what happened. Investigations are ongoing.
According to the Heks communiqué, the attack took place in the south-east of the country. A group of Heks employees were attacked on Thursday afternoon during a humanitarian mission. The aid organization is currently working "at full speed" on the safe evacuation of the injured employees. It condemns "in the strongest terms this brutal, unjustifiable attack and the serious violation of international humanitarian law."
Foreign Ministry condemns attack
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) also condemned the incident in a message on the short message service X on Friday. Any attack on civilians is unacceptable and contrary to international law.
According to FDFA information, there are also no Swiss nationals among the victims, as was reported on request. A Ukrainian military governor had already announced on Friday night that two volunteers from France had been killed by Russian fire near Kherson. Three other foreigners had suffered minor injuries.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of a "cowardly and undignified attack" on French aid workers in a short message on Platform X on Friday.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic