During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Russia military forces have repeatedly attacked Ukrainian medical facilities and hospitals, with at least 703 attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities carried out by November 2022, with 144 such facilities completely destroyed by Russian strikes,[1] in what constitutes multiple instances of war crimes.[2]
Overview[]
The Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom stated that Russia was prioritizing attacks on Ukrainian medical facilities as a method of warfare, often striking these with Iranian-made drones.[3]
The most widely covered attacks was the bombing of the Mariupol maternity hospital.[4][5] The attacks have been independently verified and are violations of international law breaching medical neutrality.[6][7][8] The deadliest attack occurred on February 24, 2022, at the Central City Hospital in Vuhledar when a Russian ballistic missile full of cluster munitions fell just outside of the hospital, killing four and injuring ten.[4]
Between February 24 and March 21, 2022, sixty-four medical facilities and their personnel were targeted by Russian forces in Ukraine, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.[9] The facilities were being hit at rate of two to three a day, inflicting 15 deaths and 37 injuries.[6][7] By April 8, 2022, WHO had confirmed 91 attacks.[10]
On 23 November Russian missile strikes destroyed a maternity ward in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, in the town of Vilnyansk, killing a newborn baby.[3]
References[]
- ↑ "Russian Airstrikes in Ukraine: The 'Largest Attack' on Health Care in Europe Since World War II, Says WHO - Health Policy Watch". 21 November 2022. https://healthpolicy-watch.news/russian-ukraine-airstrikes-largest-attack-health-care-europe-since-world-war-ii-who/.
- ↑ "Putin is Targeting Ukrainian Hospitals. That's a War Crime". https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/04/11/putin-targeting-ukrainian-hospitals-war-crime/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Zaporizhzhia strike kills newborn baby at Ukraine hospital". BBC News. 23 November 2022. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63727260.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Russian attacks hit at least 9 Ukrainian medical facilities, visual evidence shows" (in en). 2022-03-12. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/12/ukraine-hospital-attacks-video/.
- ↑ "Ukraine: 28 days of war, 64 verified attacks on health care, and 18 million people affected" (in en). https://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2022/ukraine-28-days-of-war,-64-verified-attacks-on-health-care,-and-18-million-people-affected.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Taylor, Luke (2022-03-25). "Russian forces are increasingly targeting Ukrainian healthcare facilities, says WHO" (in en). pp. o801. Digital object identifier:10.1136/bmj.o801. ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 35338043. https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o801.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "WHO says 64 hospitals attacked since Russian invasion of Ukraine" (in en). https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/24/who-says-64-hospitals-attacked-since-russia-invasion-of-ukraine.
- ↑ "WHO Confirms Attacks on Ukraine Healthcare Facilities" (in en). https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news-2022-03-04/card/who-confirms-attacks-on-ukraine-healthcare-facilities-NMYnrLY9BvqOulLdLXxB.
- ↑ "WHO Confirms Attacks on Ukraine Healthcare Facilities" (in en). https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news-2022-03-04/card/who-confirms-attacks-on-ukraine-healthcare-facilities-NMYnrLY9BvqOulLdLXxB.
- ↑ Sanders IV, Lewis; Felden, Esther; Theise, Eugen (8 April 2022). "How Russia could get away with attacks on Ukraine hospitals". https://www.dw.com/en/how-russia-could-get-away-with-attacks-on-ukraine-hospitals/a-61383117.
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The original article can be found at Russian strikes on hospitals during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the edit history here.