Ukraine: Russian strikes hit largest children’s hospital

Jurist
Ukraine

Russian missile attacks on Ukraine killed dozens of people, injured hundreds, and damaged the country’s largest children’s hospital, UN and Ukrainian officials announced July 8. Numerous commercial and residential buildings were struck in the wave of strikes on cities including Dnipro, Kramatorsk, Pokrovsk, Kryviy Rih and Kyiv, leading to the death of at least 36 and injuries to no less than 140 people. Kyiv’s Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital was damaged with at least 16 injured, including children and medical staff, and two adults dead.

Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital is the largest multidisciplinary pediatric hospital in Ukraine. It has become one of the most important hospitals in the country since the start of Russia’s invasion of te country, providing scarce laboratory and resuscitation services. Five buildings of the hospital, housing the departments of oncology, toxicology, traumatology and surgery, were damaged in the strikes. Children are now being evacuated to other hospitals in the city, as there is currently no light, water supply, or oxygen available at Okhmatdyt.

Casualty figures are not yet final as the rubble is still being searched. July 9 was declared a day of mourning in Kyiv and Kryvyi Rih.

UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Denise Brown stated: “It is unconscionable that children are killed and injured in this war. Under international humanitarian law, hospitals have special protection. Civilians must be protected.”

In the period from March 1 to May 31, 2024, a minimum of 436 civilians were killed and an additional 1,760 wounded in Ukraine due to increased shelling by Russian forces, as documented in the recent report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. Among the casualties were six individuals working in media, 26 in healthcare, five in humanitarian aid, and 28 in emergency services.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a press conference that Ukraine will convene a meeting of the UN Security Council, which is currently chaired by the Russian Federation, in response to the attack.

From Jurst, July 8. Used with permission.

See our last report on Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Map: PCL

  1. Ukraine court convicts leader of occupied Luhansk region

    The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) announced July 2 that Leonid Pasichnyk, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in the Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine’s Luhansk province, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

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    The so-called Luhansk People’s Republic is among those territories of Ukraine that Russia has declared unilaterally annexed. Russian leaders are also facing international war crimes charges.

     

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