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Polish volunteer wounded by Russian shelling in Ukraine: officials

18.03.2023 19:30
A Polish volunteer bringing aid to Ukraine has been hospitalised with injuries after a Russian shell hit a humanitarian vehicle, with the man thought to be “in a serious but stable condition,” officials confirmed on Saturday.   
A Polish volunteer bringing aid to Ukraine has been hospitalised with injuries after a Russian shell hit a humanitarian vehicle, with the man thought to be in a serious but stable condition, officials confirmed on Saturday.
A Polish volunteer bringing aid to Ukraine has been hospitalised with injuries after a Russian shell hit a humanitarian vehicle, with the man thought to be “in a serious but stable condition,” officials confirmed on Saturday. PAP/UKRINFORM/Nina Lyashonok

The humanitarian van was shelled by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine in the late afternoon on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.  

The explosion injured six people, including the Pole and a Ukrainian national living in Poland, according to officials.

Both men work for Nehemiasz (Nehemiah), a Polish humanitarian aid group.

A Nehemiasz representative told PAP on Saturday: “Both men are from Poznań [western Poland]. One of them is in a stable, but serious condition. The other is in a less serious condition.”

The aid worker added: “We are in contact both with their families and with the Polish embassy in Kyiv. I would like us to be able to welcome them in Poland in a week or two.”

The Nehemiasz representative further said: "It was our 22nd trip. They weren't there for the first time, either. One of them had been going there since 2014, so he is a very experienced person."

Earlier on Saturday, Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Bartosz Cichocki confirmed that a Pole had been wounded in Ukraine. 

The diplomat told the PAP news agency: “"I can confirm that we have received information about a wounded Polish citizen. They are being offered medical assistance and care."

‘Serious injuries’

Polish Cabinet Minister Michał Dworczyk said in a tweet on Saturday afternoon: “A Polish volunteer has been wounded during Russian shelling in Ukraine. Poland’s Humanitarian and Medical Assistance Team ZPHM is in constant contact with doctors from the hospital where the injured man is staying. The deputy head of ZPHM has visited him.” 

Dworczyk added: “In line with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s decision, ZPHM will transport the injured man to Poland for further treatment as soon as possible.” 

Dworczyk later told PAP that one of the two wounded volunteers was Polish and the other a Ukrainian national living in Poland. 

The official added that both have been taken to hospital in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro. 

Dworczyk said the Polish man was in a more serious condition having suffered “extensive stomach injuries,” the PAP news agency reported.

Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine 

Earlier in the day, Anton Gerashchenko, an aide to Ukraine’s interior minister, said in a tweet that a vehicle carrying two Poles had been hit by a Russian shell in the eastern Donetsk region. 

Gerashchenko tweeted on Saturday morning: “A Russian shell hit the bus of Polish volunteers who brought humanitarian aid in Chasiv Yar. Two volunteers were wounded.”

He added: “One of them was evacuated to a Dnipro hospital by Life Saving Center. Wishing both of them a full and speedy recovery.”

Gerashchenko also attached a photo showing a white van with a big hole blown in it, right behind the driver's seat. 

The van bears a sticker with the motto 'Helping Ukraine' as well as the flags of Ukraine, Poland and Latvia.

Saturday is day 388 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. 

(pm)

Source: PAP, interia.pl