This is no accident. This is a war crime. Russia is waging a deliberate war on Ukrainian rescuers, striking six fire stations in one week, says Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
Russia's war has taken on a genocidal character, aiming not only to seize territory but to erase its population through attacks on civilians. Targeting women, children, and non-combatants is a deliberate tactic to break Ukrainian morale. On 1 June, Ukrainian forces destroyed approximately 34% of the Russian fleet responsible for launching strikes on civilian populations.
The Ukrainian minister has accused Russia of deliberately targeting emergency services, calling recent attacks on fire and rescue units a campaign of “deliberate terror.” Over just one week, six fire stations across Ukraine were hit, injuring 12 emergency workers who risk their lives daily under fire.
“Even after the strikes, our rescuers put their uniforms back on and headed to where someone may still be breathing beneath the rubble,” Klymenko says.
From 26 May to 2 June, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service came under fire nearly ten times. Fire-rescue units were hit in Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, and Kharkiv oblasts. The attacks damaged six fire stations and destroyed six emergency vehicles.
One of the most brazen strikes, according to Klymenko, occurred on the morning of 2 June in Stepnohirsk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. After drones struck a fire station, Russian forces launched a second strike targeting rescuers evacuating the wounded.
Twelve emergency personnel were injured, and two vehicles were destroyed in the attack. The wounded are now receiving medical and psychological care.
