{"id":627,"date":"2023-02-21T12:47:37","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T12:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uhc.org.ua\/?p=553"},"modified":"2024-10-22T11:43:54","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T08:43:54","slug":"russias-assault-ukraine-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uhc.org.ua\/en\/russias-assault-ukraine-report\/","title":{"rendered":"At Least 707 Attacks on Health Care in Ukraine During One Year of Russia\u2019s Assault on Civilians: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Landmark investigation documents Russia\u2019s brutal violence against Ukrainian hospitals and health workers, pointing to likely war crimes and potential crimes against humanity<\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n FEBRUARY 21, 2023<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n KYIV\/NEW YORK \u2013 <\/em><\/strong>707 violent attacks on hospitals, health workers, and other medical infrastructure devastated Ukraine\u2019s health system during the first year since the Russian Federation\u2019s full-scale invasion, according to a new investigation<\/a> published today by human rights investigators. An average of two attacks on health care \u2013 including the bombing of hospitals, torture of medics, and shooting at ambulances \u2013 were perpetrated each day from February 24-December 31, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new report Destruction and Devastation: One Year of Russia\u2019s Assault on Ukraine\u2019s Health Care System<\/em><\/strong><\/a> documents how Russia appears to have both deliberately and indiscriminately targeted Ukraine\u2019s health system as part of a broader attack on Ukraine\u2019s civilian population and infrastructure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The report shows that there is a reasonable basis to believe that the documented attacks constitute war crimes and comprise a course of conduct that could potentially constitute crimes against humanity as well. The research was conducted jointly by eyeWitness to Atrocities<\/a>, Insecurity Insight<\/a> (II), Media Initiative for Human Rights<\/a> (MIHR), Physicians for Human Rights<\/a> (PHR), and the <\/a>Ukrainian<\/a> Healthcare Center<\/a> (UHC). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The report breaks new ground as the most comprehensive documentation to date of attacks on Ukraine\u2019s health care system. The investigation draws on a new dataset and interactive map<\/a> of attacks \u2013 developed from open-source and confidential information gathered over 2022 \u2013 supplemented by 10 detailed case studies based on research visits to hospitals across Ukraine to inspect attack sites, assess damage, take photographs, and conduct semi-structured interviews with survivors and witnesses. <\/p>\n\n\n Among the 707 total attacks on health care perpetrated from February 24-December 31, 2022, researchers documented both targeted and indiscriminate attacks on Ukraine\u2019s health system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey saw very well, they knew that this was a medical institution,\u201d Dr. Alla Barsehian, director of Bashtanka Multiprofile Hospital, told researchers. The hospital was heavily damaged in an April 2022 attack despite being marked with a Red Cross painted on a canvas on the hospital\u2019s roof. \u201cWe hoped this would somehow save us. But it turns out nothing is sacred in this war,\u201d the doctor told Sky News<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The impacts of these 707 attacks on the health and wellbeing of Ukrainians are devastating and far-reaching, resulting in the denial of access to medical care, reduced vaccination rates, barriers to managing chronic diseases, and severe mental health tolls. While the full extent of the damage to Ukraine\u2019s public health remains to be seen, at least one in every three Ukrainians lacked access to medical services as of December 2022, according to a survey<\/a> by the International Organization for Migration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Targeting functioning health care infrastructure and workers in an armed conflict and carrying out indiscriminate attacks that affect civilian infrastructure \u2013 including hospitals and clinics \u2013 constitute war crimes. The report offers detailed legal analysis that highlights pathways to accountability for these attacks under international criminal law, Ukrainian domestic law, and universal jurisdiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The report is launched alongside a new interactive map documenting attacks on health care in Ukraine. The map allows users to analyze patterns of violence affecting medical facilities, health workers, and infrastructure. The map is available at www.attacksonhealthukraine.org<\/a> and will be continuously updated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian armed forces have attacked health workers and facilities in past conflicts around the globe, including in Syria<\/a>, Chechnya, and Georgia. To date, there have been no successful prosecutions or accountability for these flagrant violations of international law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While violence against health care in conflict zones is a global phenomenon, Russia\u2019s assault on Ukraine\u2019s health system in 2022 stands out for its scale and brutality. At least 1892 attacks on health care in conflict were perpetrated in 2022<\/a>, according to new figures released by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition<\/a> (SHCC), a group of nongovernmental organizations working to protect health workers, services, and infrastructure. This includes 628 health facilities damaged, 215 health workers killed, and 287 health workers kidnapped across the world. More than a third of all reported attacks on health care globally in 2022 were perpetrated in Ukraine amid Russia\u2019s invasion. <\/p>\n\n\n Protecting health care is a shared responsibility of all parties to an armed conflict. International humanitarian law (IHL), the body of law that applies to armed conflicts, sets out detailed rules that seek to protect health care from conflict-related violence, principally by limiting the means and method of warfare. Health care facilities, providers, and ambulances are further afforded special protection under IHL so as to mitigate the impact of conflict on their work and ensure the delivery of care to the sick and injured. Under IHL, parties to the conflict must protect civilians against dangers arising from military operations, and allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need. Beyond protection, however, there is a pressing need to ensure accountability when IHL rules and principles are violated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is a great concern that damage and destruction of the health system is common in so many conflicts around the world despite the fact that international humanitarian law protects access to health care,\u201d said Christina Wille, director of Insecurity Insight. \u201cWe have been monitoring patterns of violence against healthcare in conflict for several years around the world, and never before have we seen such widespread damage and destruction to the health system from indiscriminate use of force. The frequent use of explosive weapons with wide area effects across cities of Ukraine causes unacceptable devastation to the whole health system with concerning consequences for access to health care.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The report calls on investigators and prosecutors \u2013 in Ukraine, at the International Criminal Court, and in third countries that can act under the principle of \u201cuniversal jurisdiction\u201d \u2013 to prioritize these attacks and affirm that the laws protecting medical facilities and personnel be respected and enforced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The authors demand that Russia \u201ccease these attacks and end its aggression. Russia is also obligated to make reparations for its breaches of international law, including compensating the Ukrainian state and individual Ukrainians \u2013 and other killed or injured nationals \u2013 for devastating loss of life and injury, extensive destruction, and the enormous costs of reconstruction, including to the health care system.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cOur report illustrates the staggering toll that Russia\u2019s war of aggression has had on Ukraine\u2019s doctors, nurses, and patients. The research shows that Russian armed forces have bombed hospitals, tortured medics, attacked ambulances, and looted clinics. Based on the findings of our investigation, evidence strongly suggests these acts constitute war crimes and a course of conduct that could potentially constitute crimes against humanity as well. As we mark one year since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine \u2013 and with imminent threats of further violence against health care amid Russia\u2019s latest offensive \u2013 prosecutors must urgently investigate these attacks and hold perpetrators to account\u201d. <\/h5>\nChristian De Vos, JD, PhD<\/a>, report co-author and director of research and investigations at PHR. <\/strong><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The numbers shown on the map and presented in the dataset provide a minimum estimate of the conflict-related damage to the health care system in Ukraine in 2022; however, they are likely an undercount. Key findings include: <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cRussia’s brutal strategy is deliberately merging civilian and military targets in war. For them, destroying hospitals, schools, and the power grid is a way to achieve military aims. Russia used this murderous tactic before, in Chechnya and Syria, but faced no accountability. If impunity doesn’t end now, we will see many more hospitals destroyed as a means of war in the future. Unpunished evil always grows\u201d. <\/h5>\nPavlo Kovtoniuk, report co-author and co-founder of the Ukrainian Healthcare Center (UHC).<\/strong><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the dataset and map, the report highlights 10 detailed case studies on alleged attacks by Russian forces on Ukraine\u2019s health care facilities, infrastructure, and workers, informed by site visits to hospitals around Ukraine and interviews with survivors, including: <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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“Health care workers, who became witnesses, talk about the horrific crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. Some were held hostage by the Russian military, others were under fire, and some were forced to work under occupation. Witnesses described these events with horror and tears in their eyes. It is worth emphasizing that these are just a few testimonies and only from those who survived. Witnesses share their stories to hold Russia accountable for its crimes”. <\/h5>\nLyubov Smachylo, analyst of the Media Initiative for Human Rights.<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cThe findings presented in the report urgently warrant further investigation by prosecutorial authorities. The 10 highly detailed case studies in particular provide compelling evidence for prosecutors \u2013 be they at the ICC, in Kyiv, or beyond \u2013 to pursue accountability for these heinous acts\u201d. <\/h5>\nSaid Wendy Betts, director at eyeWitness to Atrocities.<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n