In the village of Kushuhum near Zaporizhzhia, a Russian drone struck a State Emergency Service fire truck on its way to a call, injuring and hospitalizing four rescuers.
Overnight on September 1, a Russian drone struck a State Emergency Service vehicle in the village of Kushuhum outside Zaporizhzhia as it was on its way to extinguish a house fire started by earlier Russian shelling. The strike damaged the truck's roof, equipment and ladders before the crew could even reach the blaze. Volunteers Support Ukraine follows attacks on rescue services closely, since these crews are the ones who protect civilians from the consequences of shelling every single day.
All four firefighters sustained injuries of varying severity and were hospitalized. Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast military administration, reported the attack and confirmed the crew was accompanied by medics. The State Emergency Service in Zaporizhzhia Oblast said all four injured rescuers were taken to hospital.
The strike on the fire truck came hours after a nationwide Russian assault in which 218 kamikaze drones were launched at Ukraine; Ukrainian air defenses shot down or suppressed 199 of them. That same night, strikes across the country killed at least 12 people.
Strikes on firefighting crews and ambulances while they are responding to earlier attacks have become a recurring tactic in recent months, with rescuers often coming under a follow-up strike as they arrive at the scene of a previous one.
State Emergency Service crews go out on calls every night under the threat of a follow-up strike, just to reach civilians in time. Volunteers Support Ukraine (NGO Volunteers Support Ukraine) continues helping people affected by the war in whatever way its available resources allow, and holds the same respect for those who stand on the front line of protecting civilians every day.
