Moroccan student killed in Russian bombardment of Ukraine's Odessa

A student of Moroccan origin has been killed in Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, the Moroccan daily Al-Yaoum 24 reported on Thursday.

Anas Jabry is thought to have been killed by a Russian strike on a public bus in the port city of Odessa on Wednesday, where he had been studying for several years.

Jabry, who hails from the southern Moroccan city of Agadir, was seriously wounded and subsequently succumbed to his injuries.

The victim’s father, Mustapha, confirmed his son’s death in a post on his Facebook page.

توفي أمس الأربعاء 20 أبريل الجاري، طالب مغربي" أنس جبري" كان قد حاصرته الحرب بأوكرانيا، متأثرا بجروح جراء القصف هناك.
ووفق ما نشره والده مصطفى جبري المندوب السابق لوزارة الاتصال بأكادير، من خلال تدوينة في حسابه في حسابه الرسمي، انه فقد إبنه في الحرب بأوكرانيا. pic.twitter.com/YW4X4dNBMI

— Majda (@Essalkatou) April 21, 2022

"My son was living in Ukraine for years and was completing his university studies there, he died following Russian bombardment of a bus," he told Al-Yaoum 24.

Jabry was reportedly residing with his Ukrainian mother and visited Morocco often. His father added that his son and other members of his family had initially left Odessa for Moldova, but decided to return for a short period, when the bus attack occurred.

The victim’s father added that his son will be buried in Ukraine, in accordance with Islamic burial rites. No other deaths from the family have been confirmed.

However, the Moroccan government’s spokesperson Mustapha Baitas said that they have yet to receive news of any Moroccan student deaths in Ukraine in a press conference on Thursday.

In February, an Algerian student was killed in a Russian bombardment in Ukraine’s second-biggest city of Kharkiv. He was sheltering with other Arab students when he was hit in the head by a sniper’s bullet.

Students from Morocco, Egypt, Palestine - among other MENA countries- are enrolled in universities across the eastern European country, studying medicine and other subjects.

Despite initial difficulties Arab governments faced in repatriating their nationals, thousands of students have managed to leave Ukraine following Russia’s military aggression.