Latvian combat medic Cīrule injured in Russian strike in Ukraine

Latvian combat medic Sarmīte Cīrule was injured in a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, Latvian broadcaster TV3 reports. Her life is not in danger.

Cīrule told TV3 she was at a post office collecting aid supplies that had been sent to her when the strike occurred. The explosion left her trapped under rubble. She was subsequently taken to a hospital in a relatively safer region of Ukraine.

Second injury this year

This is not the first time Cīrule has been hurt while serving in Ukraine. In March 2025 she was wounded in a Russian kamikaze drone attack while she and fellow fighters were moving to rescue a severely wounded Ukrainian soldier. She sustained shrapnel wounds and a concussion at the time, but returned to the front line to continue providing aid after recovering.

Cīrule has been supporting Ukrainian soldiers since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, working in some of the most difficult sections of the front. She has repeatedly stressed that she does everything she can to save soldiers' lives in Ukraine, saying that Latvia's own defense begins there.