Real Foundation Denies russian Looting Claims Amid Kherson Attacks

The head of the Real Foundation denied Russian claims of looting. The occupiers explained the attack by allegedly hitting the cars of looters who were looting abandoned houses in Kherson.

As reported by the weekly Vgoru, the head of the "Real" Foundation, Alina Shemedyuk, categorically denied the occupiers' accusations of looting in Kherson, calling them deliberate disinformation.

According to her, the foundation's team has been helping the civilian population since the beginning of the full-scale invasion: evacuating the wounded, delivering humanitarian aid, repairing buildings damaged by shelling and working in cooperation with international partners.

"Our volunteers risk their lives every day to help those who have been left homeless, without access to medical care or unable to move by Russian shelling," emphasized Shemedyuk.

On April 12, a Russian drone attacked a car of the charity fund "Real" in the Dniprovsky district of Kherson, killing 28-year-old volunteer Oleh Salnyk.

The Russian military stated that they had hit a car that they claimed belonged to looters. Propaganda sources claimed that the car was constantly loaded with things, and its passengers were intimidating locals.

The head of the foundation added that attempts to discredit the volunteers are a targeted pressure on the humanitarian mission, but real actions are much louder than hostile fakes. This is not the first time that Russian forces have attacked civilian vehicles and volunteers in Kherson and the region.

On March 19, 25-year-old volunteer Oleksandr Ivakhnenko was killed during another shelling of Kherson by Russian troops. He was helping to repair windows in a house damaged during previous attacks.

In early January, 23-year-old Pavlo Matviyets, a volunteer with the NGO Strong and Free, was killed in a shelling. Another victim of a Russian drone was Iryna Bayrachenko, a Kherson volunteer who took care of the elderly and abandoned animals in Kindiyka. She is survived by a schoolgirl daughter.

As of the end of 2024, at least 121 activists, volunteers, human rights defenders, and journalists have been killed as a result of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

Анна Бальчінос