Russian rocket attack kills two Norwegian aid deminers in Kherson
A Russian rocket strike in southern Ukraine killed two Ukrainian demining specialists working for Norwegian NGO Norsk Folkehjelp and wounded four others. The attack in Novopetrivka came without an air alert and may have involved cluster munitions.
The attack
In the village of Novopetrivka, roughly 40 kilometres from the front line in the southern Kherson region, a rocket strike hit a group of demining specialists from Norwegian People’s Aid on Wednesday. The Kherson regional prosecutor’s office confirmed the attack was a rocket launch. Bujar Hoxha, who leads the organisation’s Ukraine mission, said the team was working in an area where no air raid warning had been sounded and where cluster munitions were suspected. The region, partially occupied by Russian forces, is a frequent target for artillery, rockets and drones.
The attack could be the result of cluster munitions fire and no air alert was in force at that moment.
Casualties
The initial toll was one dead and five wounded, one of them in a critical state.
The first victim was a 24‑year‑old Ukrainian demining specialist. Hours later, Oleksandr Prokoudine, head of the regional military administration, reported that the critically injured colleague, aged 25, had died.Six members of our staff were hit: one of them lost his life, another is in critical condition and four are wounded, as we speak.
Both victims were demining experts. The four other wounded staff members are receiving treatment.Doctors fought desperately to save the life of this 25‑year‑old man, but his injuries proved too severe.
Investigation and NGO presence
Hoxha said an investigation into the circumstances of the strike is ongoing, without specifying the exact time of day. Norwegian People’s Aid (Norsk Folkehjelp) confirmed in a statement that it employs more than 450 people in Ukraine and focuses on clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance, a critical task in a country still heavily contaminated by war remnants. The organisation has been operating in Ukraine since the full‑scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
Repeated attacks on aid organisations in Kherson
Humanitarian actors have been targeted several times in the Kherson region. In February 2024, two international aid workers from the Swiss NGO HEKS/EPER were killed. In September 2025, two demining experts with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) lost their lives. A UN humanitarian vehicle was struck by Russian drones in May 2026. The 24 June attack on Norsk Folkehjelp staff is the latest in a series of strikes that have killed or endangered NGO personnel operating near front‑line areas.
- Two Swiss HEKS/EPER humanitarian workers killed in Kherson region
- Two DRC demining experts killed in Kherson region
- UN humanitarian vehicle struck by Russian drones (no fatalities)
- Two Norsk Folkehjelp demining experts killed in Novopetrivka by Russian rocket strike
