Russian military forces expanded their targeting of non-military infrastructure on Saturday, June 6, executing a high-seas assault against internationally protected humanitarian rescue vessels in the Black Sea and bombarding a civilian establishment in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Assault on Protected Maritime Rescue Missions
Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for restoration and minister for communities and territories development, announced on Telegram that Russian forces deliberately targeted two small coastal rescue boats. The vessels, operated by the state-run Maritime Search and Rescue Service, were actively conducting a humanitarian mission within the designated Ukrainian maritime shipping corridor when the strike occurred.
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Kuleba confirmed that the attack resulted in injuries to personnel on board, though the precise number of casualties remains under assessment. Units from the Ukrainian Navy were immediately deployed to the sector to execute an emergency evacuation of the wounded mariners and salvage the damaged craft.
The deputy prime minister emphasized that small search-and-rescue vessels hold explicit protections under international law. Specifically, Article 27 of the Second Geneva Convention of 1949 strictly forbids hostile operations against vessels utilized exclusively by the state or officially recognized lifesaving organizations to assist mariners in distress.
“This attack is yet another proof of the Russian Federation’s deliberate disregard for the norms of international law and the creation of a direct threat to the safe functioning of humanitarian maritime corridors in the Black Sea,” Kuleba stated.
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