At Least 43 Hospitals And Health Facilities Attacked In Ukraine, Says WHO

At least 43 Ukrainian hospitals and health facilities have been attacked by Russia since the start of its invasion last month, according to a report from the director of the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday during virtual remarks that it has documented 43 attacks on hospitals and health facilities that have killed 12 people and injured 34 others.

“[T]he disruption to services and supplies is posing an extreme risk to people with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV and TB, which are among the leading causes of mortality in Ukraine,” Ghebreyesus said, according to the Associated Press.

WHO has also reported, “More than 300 health facilities are along conflict lines or in areas that Russia now controls, and a further 600 facilities are within 10 kilometres of the conflict line.”

To help, the organization has sent “about 100 metric tonnes of supplies, including oxygen, insulin, surgical supplies, anaesthetics, and blood transfusion kits.”

A joint statement from WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA was released on March 13 condemning Russia’s attacks on health facilities.

“Today, we call for an immediate cessation of all attacks on health care in Ukraine. These horrific attacks are killing and causing serious injuries to patients and health workers, destroying vital health infrastructure and forcing thousands to forgo accessing health services despite catastrophic needs,” the organizations wrote.

“To attack the most vulnerable – babies, children, pregnant women, and those already suffering from illness and disease, and health workers risking their own lives to save lives – is an act of unconscionable cruelty,” the statement added.

According to the Ukrainian government, a Russian airstrike has destroyed a maternity hospital in Mariupol last week in a direct hit that left children buried underneath. At least three people were killed and 17 were injured in the destruction. The Daily Wire reported:

“An apparent Russian strike on Wednesday damaged and destroyed buildings at a hospital complex in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, including a maternity ward, according to several videos verified by The New York Times,” The New York Times reported, adding, “The city is part of a vital stretch of terrain that Russia is trying to capture in an apparent attempt to link Russian-backed separatist enclaves in the southeast with Crimea, the southern peninsula Russia seized in 2014.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted, “Mariupol. Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity.”

Mariupol. Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity. pic.twitter.com/FoaNdbKH5k

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 9, 2022

“Footage has emerged of badly wounded patients and nurses being evacuated from decimated buildings, while pregnant women were carried out on stretchers into a courtyard covered in rubble and littered with huge craters,” The Daily Mail reported, adding, “Video footage from the aftermath of the attack showed that large parts of the hospital had completely collapsed, while blood soaked mattresses were pictured lying in hallways.”

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