Ukrainian-born Dmytro Kretsu (49) was out for water last week when he became caught up in gunfire, missing a first shot but eventually being hit in the leg. Not, however, in Ukraine—the ongoing war which he and his wife fled from two years ago—but in a region of Brussels where he sought sanctuary.
His wounding has been put down as the “collateral damage” of worsening gang violence between drug cartels in Belgium and took place amid a spate of other shootings. The situation is so bad that Brussels lawmakers are trying—and so far failing—to get the military to step in to help policing efforts.
Kretsu was caught in the crossfire of multiple gunmen who were fighting in the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht over “a stolen shipment of coke,” according to Flemish paper Het Nieuwsblad.
His wife, Marku, said “we have nothing to do with those drugs. We don’t even drink alcohol.”
Why can’t we just walk down the street without living in fear of being shot?
The victim was rushed to hospital, his life reportedly “hanging by a thread for a while.” He has since stabilised. Marku also explained that the police first “mistook my husband for someone else. His slightly tanned skin makes him look less Ukrainian.”
Anderlecht’s Aumale metro station was late last year designated a drug hotspot after a string of gang shootings. Officials said they were “reinforcing police patrols at this time.”
Since the shooting of the Ukrainian migrant, videos have emerged online purportedly showing migrant gangs using Russian-origin Kalashnikova (AK47) rifles in their drug and turf wars.
Elsewhere, in Munich, police say that a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker crashed into a crowd of people in a Mini, injuring at least 28 people.
