Two Norwegian volunteer paramedics Sander Sørsveen Trelvik and Simon Johnsen got wounded by the Russian shelling in Bakhmut (Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine) ) on 2 February, VG reported.
Simon Sørsveen Trelvik and Sander Johnsen work together as medics in Ukraine, in the organization Frontline medics, which they themselves have co-founded. On Thursday, the two were in Bakhmut to evacuate the injured civilians after the Russian indiscriminate shelling of the city, when Russian bombs slammed close to them hitting their car. As a result of the Russian shelling, at least two civilians were killed and three others were wounded.
Simon Johnsen’s mother, Grethe Sørsveen, wrote a post about her son on Facebook on Thursday:
“Just want to inform you that Sander has been injured down in Ukraine. He is being taken to the hospital in Dnipro now for surgeries. He has shrapnel stuck in his body. No solid organs are damaged,” she wrote.
Simon Johnsen and Sander Sørsveen Trelvik traveled to Ukraine on 30 January 2023. Thursday’s evacuation was their first mission since their arrival in Ukraine.
“They had been given the assignment to pick up the wounded. When they picked up the patient, the bomb hit their car,” Grethe Sørsveen told VG.
Simon Johnsen told VG that the Russian troops were waiting for paramedics to come and evacuate the wounded.
“When we arrived and started helping the wounded, Russians began to shell the same spot again for the second time. Russians deliberately shelled the area once they learned that people survived there,” Johnsen said.
US designates Russia’s Wagner group a transnational criminal organization
The battle for Bakhmut has been going on for months, and the Russian mercenary group Wagner’s head Yevgeny Prigozhin has repeatedly claimed that his forces have taken control of the city. However, Bakhmut remains under full Ukrainian control at this point. Russian forces target civilians and shell the residential areas of the city every single day.
Related:
- Ukraine in firm control of Bakhmut
- Evolution of Russian tactics in Ukraine
- Ukraine is gaining the upper hand. But it needs more help
- Battle of Bakhmut and Soledar: how can Ukraine stop Russia?
- Wagner Group’s prisoner recruitment on decline due to elite rivalry – British Intelligence
- Former Wagner Group commander who fled to Norway arrested by police – The Guardian
- Russia’s war crimes must be tried before international court
