(Previous Incident Code: RUK0151)

Three demining employees were killed and four other employees were injured – all men – by the explosion of munitions, including cluster munitions, near Nova Vodolaga in Kharkiv on April 16, 2022.

The Novovodolazka council announced on Facebook that three employees of the Interregional Center for Humanitarian Demining and Rapid Response of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, which is located in the Novovodolazka community, were killed in the line of duty when trying to remove a Russian mine. Local sources added that the commander of the pyrotechnics unit was killed.

Suspilne News, quoting the State Emergency Services, added that four others working on demining were injured to varying degrees of severity, and needed urgent treatment and surgery.

Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsk was quoted by LB.ua as stating that cluster munitions were among the munitions that exploded during the operation. All of the sources reported that Russian forces were responsible for the cluster munitions and mines that exploded.

This incident has reference to ACLED codes UKR55924 and UKR78373.