Russian strikes on hospitals during the Russian invasion of Ukraine

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During the illegal [1] Russian invasion of Ukraine The Russian Military has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian medical facilities, hospitals, clinics, and ambulances, and health workers. 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, as well as power infrastructure with Iranian-made drones such as Shahed 131, Shahed 136. [2]

Contents

Latest figures

As of December 21, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 1,422 attacks on health care reported by their 'Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care' (SSA) tool. [3]

The WHO, in an article published on February 22, 2024, reported 1,574verified attacks on health, and the deaths of 118 health-care workers, since the start of the full scale illegal invasion of Ukraine. [4]

History of attacks

Russia has a history of employing systematic attacks on medical facilities as a tactic of war. [5] [6] [7] Some have gone so far as to insinuate that the Russian Federation is deliberately using GPS coordinates handed over to them by the UN's deconfliction line as a list of targets. [8] [9] [10] This became such a problem, that doctors refused to share their coordinates with the UN in an attempt to avoid Russian attacks. [11] Eventually the Russian Federation left the UN program, likely in an attempt to avoid responsibility, but claiming it was in protest of the UN not sharing the list with their Syrian ally, who likewise, engaged in a campaign of attacks against healthcare facilities. [12] [13] [14] [15]

Milestones

Between February 24 and March 21, 2022, sixty-four medical facilities and their personnel were targeted by Russian forces in Ukraine, the WHO reported. [16]

By March 25, 2022, the facilities were being hit at rate of two to three a day. Mostly with heavy weapons. [17]

By April 8, 2022, there were 91 attacks confirmed by the WHO, averaging 2 attacks on hospitals, ambulances or medical supply depots per day. [18]

By November 21, 2022, there were at least 703 attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities with 144 such facilities completely destroyed by Russia. [19]

By the end of 2022, nearly one in ten Ukrainian hospitals had been damaged. [20] [21]

The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) found that russia has "deliberately and repeated" targeted Kherson city's medical facilities between December 2022, and May 2023. [22] [23]

By May 30th, 2023, the WHO had verified 1,000 attacks, the highest number ever recorded. [24] Other monitoring groups have also marked the milestone 1000th attack, though using different metrics. [25] Collectively this constitutes almost daily, deliberate instances of war crimes on a massive scale. [26]

By February 22, 2024, the WHO regional direct confirmed that there had been "over 1500" attacks reported. [27] [28]

The UN reported 131 additional attacks on health infrastructure in their February 21, 2024, report. [3] This seems to be since January 2024.

Notable events

A deadly attack occurred on the first day of the war, 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. [29] [30]

The most widely covered attack was the bombing of the Mariupol maternity hospital. [29]

On 23 November 2022, Russian missile strikes destroyed a maternity ward in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, in the town of Vilnyansk, killing a newborn baby. [2]

See also

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During the Syrian Civil War, Russian and Syrian government forces have conducted a campaign that has focused on the destruction of hospitals and medical facilities within areas not under the control of the Syrian government. Russian and Syrian officials have repeatedly denied deliberately targeting medical facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian war crimes</span> Violations of the laws of war committed by the Russian Federation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health Care In Danger</span> Red Cross campaign

Health Care In Danger is a campaign organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross that highlights violent attacks on patients, healthcare workers, and healthcare facilities in conflict zones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian invasion of Ukraine</span> Ongoing military conflict in Eastern Europe

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The southern Ukraine campaign is an ongoing theatre of operation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. From their base in Russian-occupied Crimea, the Russian Armed Forces attacked Kherson Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, and Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southern Ukraine, battling the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine</span> War crimes in Ukraine

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian military and authorities have committed war crimes, such as deliberate attacks against civilian targets ; indiscriminate attacks on densely-populated areas ; abduction, torture and murder of civilians; forced deportations; sexual violence; destruction of cultural heritage; and mistreatment, torture and murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariupol hospital airstrike</span> Russian war crime during the Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 9 March 2022, the Russian Air Force bombed Maternity Hospital No 3, a hospital complex functioning both as a children's hospital and maternity ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring at least sixteen, and leading to at least one stillbirth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in the Russian invasion of Ukraine</span> Roles of women during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast</span> Military occupation and annexation by Russia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child abductions in the Russo-Ukrainian War</span> Forced Russian adoption of Ukrainian children

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During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia occupied vast portions of the territory of Ukraine, having already occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts as well as the entire Autonomous Republic of Crimea since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2014. Partisan groups began to be organized in mid-2022. These groups have been involved in intelligence-gathering, sabotage, and assassinations. Much of their activity has taken place in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine</span>

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military have carried out deliberate attacks against civilian targets and indiscriminate attacks in densely-populated areas. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine says the Russian military exposed the civilian population to unnecessary and disproportionate harm by using cluster bombs and by firing other weapons with wide-area effects into civilian areas, such as missiles, heavy artillery shells and multiple launch rockets. As of 2024, the attacks had resulted in the documented deaths of between 10,000 and 16,500 civilians. On 22 April 2022, the UN reported that of the 2,343 civilian casualties it had been able to document, it could confirm 92.3% of these deaths were as a result of the actions of the Russian armed forces.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a broad range of humanitarian impacts, both in Ukraine and internationally. These include the 2022 Ukrainian refugee crisis, the disruption of global food supplies, death and suffering of civilian population, widespread conscription in both Russia and Ukraine, severe effects on Ukrainian society and emigration of Russian population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Use of cluster munitions in the Russian invasion of Ukraine</span>

The use of cluster munitions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022–present) has been recorded by a number of eyewitnesses and journalists, as well as representatives of the UN, humanitarian and public organizations. In particular, the head of the UN Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet, reported on March 30 at least 24 cases since the beginning of the invasion. As of July 1, hundreds of attacks by Russian forces with cluster munitions have already been recorded in the settlements of the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv regions. 215 civilians are known to have been killed in these shellings and 474 injured, many of which may go unreported. Both Russia as well as Ukraine have used cluster munitions during the conflict, however, Russian use has been extensive while Ukrainian use has been more limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attacks on health facilities during the Israel–Hamas war</span>

A significant number of attacks on healthcare facilities occurred during the Israel-Hamas war. During the first week of the war, there were 94 attacks on health care facilities in Israel and Gaza, killing 29 health care workers and injuring 24. The attacks on healthcare facilities contributed to a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. By 30 November, the World Health Organization documented 427 attacks on healthcare in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, resulting in 566 fatalities and 758 injuries. By February 2024, it was reported that "every hospital in Gaza is either damaged, destroyed, or out of service due to lack of fuel." By April, WHO had verified 906 attacks on healthcare in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon.

References

  1. ↑ "International Court orders Russia to 'immediately suspend' military operations in Ukraine | UN News". news.un.org. 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  2. 1 2 "Zaporizhzhia strike kills newborn baby at Ukraine hospital". BBC News. 23 November 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Situation reports (Ukraine-specific)". www.who.int. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  4. ↑ "3 reflections from 2 years: WHO's response to Europe's largest emergency". www.who.int. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  5. ↑ Triebert, Christiaan; Hill, Evan; Browne, Malachy; Hurst, Whitney; Khavin, Dmitriy; Froliak, Masha (2019-10-13). "How Times Reporters Proved Russia Bombed Syrian Hospitals". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  6. ↑ Hill, Evan; Triebert, Christiaan (2019-10-13). "12 Hours. 4 Syrian Hospitals Bombed. One Culprit: Russia". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  7. ↑ "Syrian and Russian forces targeting hospitals as a strategy of war". Amnesty International. 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  8. ↑ McKay, Hollie (2019-05-10). "Syrian hospitals bombed by Assad, Russian troops after coordinates were shared with the UN". Fox News. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  9. ↑ Herman, Jonnea (2019-06-13). "The UN Made a List of Hospitals in Syria. Now They're Being Bombed". The Century Foundation. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  10. ↑ Hill, Evan; Hurst, Whitney (2019-12-29). "The U.N. Tried to Save Hospitals in Syria. It Didn't Work". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  11. ↑ "UN Fails to Acknowledge Own Failures in Hospital Attacks Inquiry". Syria Justice & Accountability Centre. 2020-04-16. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  12. ↑ "Russia quits UN system aimed at protecting hospitals, aid in Syria". chinadailyhk. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  13. ↑ "The ultimate barbarity". The Economist. ISSN   0013-0613 . Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  14. ↑ Cumming-Bruce, Nick (2013-09-13). "U.N. Reports Syria Uses Hospital Attacks as a 'Weapon of War'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  15. ↑ "Syria's hospitals face systematic attacks: report – DW – 03/09/2021". dw.com. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  16. ↑ "WHO Confirms Attacks on Ukraine Healthcare Facilities". WSJ. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  17. ↑ Taylor, Luke (2022-03-25). "Russian forces are increasingly targeting Ukrainian healthcare facilities, says WHO". BMJ. 376: o801. doi: 10.1136/bmj.o801 . ISSN   1756-1833. PMID   35338043. S2CID   247631261.
  18. ↑ Sanders IV, Lewis; Felden, Esther; Theise, Eugen (8 April 2022). "How Russia could get away with attacks on Ukraine hospitals". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  19. ↑ "Russian Airstrikes in Ukraine: The 'Largest Attack' on Health Care in Europe Since World War II, Says WHO - Health Policy Watch". 21 November 2022.
  20. ↑ "Nearly one in every 10 hospitals in Ukraine have been damaged by attacks since Russia's invasion - Ukraine | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
  21. ↑ Staff, C. N. N. (2023-02-21). "Report: Nearly one in every 10 hospitals in Ukraine have been damaged by attacks since Russia's invasion". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  22. ↑ Harding, Luke (2023-09-20). "Revealed: how Russia deliberately targeted Kherson's hospitals". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  23. ↑ Harding, Luke; Malykhina, Lisa; Morresi, Elena; Čvorak, Monika (2023-09-20). "Why is Russia targeting hospitals in Kherson? – video explainer". the Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  24. ↑ "WHO records more than 1000 attacks on health care in Ukraine over the past 15 months of full-scale war". www.who.int. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
  25. ↑ Short, Kevin (2023-08-10). "A Horrific Milestone: More Than 1,000 Attacks on Health Care in Ukraine Since Russia's Full-scale Invasion". PHR. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
  26. ↑ "Putin is Targeting Ukrainian Hospitals. That's a War Crime".
  27. ↑ "Ukraine's health system is a symbol of resilience". www.who.int. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  28. ↑ "Ukraine's health system is a symbol of resilience". POLITICO. 2024-02-22. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  29. 1 2 "Russian attacks hit at least 9 Ukrainian medical facilities, visual evidence shows". Washington Post. 2022-03-12. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  30. ↑ "Ukraine: Russian Cluster Munition Hits Hospital | Human Rights Watch". 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
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