A Russian air attack on northern Ukraine Thursday killed two people from the Danish Refugee Council who were clearing mines in an area previously occupied by Moscow’s forces, Chernihiv regional governor Vyacheslav Chaus said.
The strike hit near the outskirts of the regional capital of Chernihiv, 125 kilometers (80 miles) north of Kyiv.
Experts say Ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world, with teams of deminers across the north, south and east, where Ukraine retook land captured by Russia at the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022.
“The Russians deliberately targeted workers from the Danish Refugee Council's humanitarian demining mission... two people are known to have been killed,” Chaus said on social media.
“First, the Russians littered the area with explosives and mines. Now they are killing people, civilians who are risking their lives to clear our land,” Chaus added.
Three more people were wounded in the attack, he said.
Russian forces surrounded the city at the start of the war, having invaded from Moscow-ally Belarus, 50 kilometers (31 miles) away.
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