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Federal Foreign Office statement on the attack on an ambulance in eastern Ukraine
A Federal Foreign Office Spokesperson issued the following statement today (2 July) on the attack on an ambulance in eastern Ukraine:
We condemn yesterday’s attack on an ambulance in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. Our thoughts are with the families of the two victims who were treating an injured person at the time of the attack.
Those who make medical workers a target in military conflicts act in an inhumane way and violate the elementary principles of international humanitarian law.
That is the opposite of the constructive contributions to foster de‑escalation that are currently needed in the Minsk process. The past months have been marked by many violations of the ceasefire and by fighting in the familiar hotspots along the contact line. This has led to a high number of military and civilian casualties. We will continue striving intensively to ensure that the talks on disengagement of forces and a ceasefire continue and that the recent positive achievements in the negotiations are not impeded by such attacks. All parties to the conflict must condemn intolerable attacks like these in order to prevent the recently achieved progress from being sabotaged.
Background information:
On 1 July, an ambulance evacuating an injured person was hit and destroyed by an anti‑tank guided missile in one of the areas controlled by the Ukrainian Government near Vodiane at the contact line in eastern Ukraine. Two people, including the doctor treating the patient, were killed and one person was injured.