Russia has set a historic record for the number of hospitals destroyed in Ukraine - WHO

Russia has carried out more than a thousand attacks on medical facilities in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to the organization, this is the highest level ever recorded in any humanitarian emergency. This fact once again confirms the difficult and dangerous conditions in which Ukraine's healthcare system operates.

In just 15 months of the war, WHO has recorded 1004 cases of attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine. At least 101 people, including healthcare workers and patients, were killed and many were injured. Buildings, medical equipment and ambulances were damaged.

"The attacks are preventing tens of thousands of people from accessing health care, increasing the risk of morbidity and mortality," the WHO wrote in a statement. The organization notes that systematic attacks on the healthcare system have a negative psychological impact on the population and medical staff. People are afraid to seek medical care, and doctors are afraid to provide it.

"Attacks on medical facilities are a violation of international humanitarian law. They deprive people of the care they need and have widespread long-term consequences," said Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine.

The WHO also reports serious problems with the provision of specialized services, such as chemotherapy and mammography, due to a shortage of qualified staff and medical equipment. In some regions, there are difficulties in providing medical care during childbirth. Overall, approximately one third of the country's population has difficulty accessing certain medical services.

Background. As a reminder, on May 26, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Dnipro River. One of the missiles hit a hospital, killing four people, according to the head of the Dnipro Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Lysak. At least 32 other people were injured.

Prior to that, on May 17, the Russian military shelled a hospital in Beryslav, Kherson region, wrote the head of the JMA, Oleksandr Prokudin. About 60 windows were smashed and walls damaged in the medical facility.

At the beginning of the invasion, on March 9, Russian troops launched a missile attack on a children's hospital in Mariupol. The air attack hit the maternity ward, killing five people, including one child, and injuring 17 others. OSCE experts called the attack on the hospital deliberate and recognized it as a war crime.