More than 20 attacksMSF slams 'deliberate' Russian destruction of Ukraine's health system

AFP
A firefighter examines the destroyed building of a medical facility hit by a missile strike in Dnipro in May 2023
A firefighter examines the destroyed building of a medical facility hit by a missile strike in Dnipro in May 2023
© AFP

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Monday condemned what it called Russia's "deliberate strategy to destroy the healthcare system" in Ukraine, documenting a consistent pattern of attacks throughout the war.

Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

MSF said that between April 2022 and December 2025, it had documented more than 20 attacks on facilities associated with the medical charity.

Russia has launched "relentless attacks on healthcare facilities and medical staff in Ukraine", MSF said in a statement.

Volunteers, including medical staff, help emergency personnel to clear the rubble of a destroyed building at Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv
Volunteers, including medical staff, help emergency personnel to clear the rubble of a destroyed building at Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv
© AFP

These "appear to constitute a deliberate strategy to destroy the healthcare system and collectively punish the population -- rather than being an incidental consequence of Russia's invasion", it said.

The World Health Organization recorded 2,815 attacks on healthcare in Ukraine between the February 2022 Russian invasion and the end of 2025, with the vast majority involving violence with heavy weapons, and 2,319 attacks impacting on facilities.

The totality of the attacks resulted in 224 deaths and 902 injuries, said the WHO, which records attacks but does not attribute blame.

Meanwhile Ukraine's health ministry says that Russian forces have damaged or destroyed more than 2,500 medical facilities during that same period, with 327 completely destroyed.

A woman walking next to a damaged hospital following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, on November 29, 2024
A woman walking next to a damaged hospital following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, on November 29, 2024
© AFP

"These attacks are too consistent, too frequent and too precise to be accidental," Robin Meldrum, MSF's country coordinator in Ukraine, said in the statement.

"When hospitals are struck repeatedly, when ambulances are targeted with precision drones, when medical workers are killed whilst en route to delivering medicines in clearly marked vehicles -- this is no coincidence.

"This is a pattern; patterns are driven by intent."

 

- Rising drone attacks -

 

Attacks on medical infrastructure have created a crisis in access to healthcare for people needing non-emergency treatment, or treatment for chronic conditions, MSF said.

Nurses crying at the sight of their hospital in Mykolaiv, after Russian shelling in March 2022
Nurses crying at the sight of their hospital in Mykolaiv, after Russian shelling in March 2022
© AFP

The medical humanitarian organisation said this directly translated into suffering and even death from manageable conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and epilepsy.

Healthcare facilities that remain operational are severely understaffed, with the number of doctors in an MSF-supported hospital in Kherson falling by 66 percent since 2022.

Meanwhile MSF teams in eastern and southern Ukraine are working under the "constant threat" of First-Person View (FPV) drone attacks, which allow operators to identify and strike targets with precision in real time.

It said that on September 29 last year, a nurse and a director from an MSF-supported health centre were struck by a Russian FPV drone in Lyman, Donetsk, as they delivered medicines in a clearly marked vehicle.

Medical personnel clear the rubble inside a heavily damaged building at Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital following a Russian missile attack on Kyiv on July 8, 2024
Medical personnel clear the rubble inside a heavily damaged building at Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital following a Russian missile attack on Kyiv on July 8, 2024
© AFP

The non-governmental organisation said its medical staff near the front line were witnessing how drone warfare is rapidly outpacing the medical response.

"Whereas injuries were once predominantly caused by artillery, drone strikes now account for a growing proportion of trauma cases," it said.

These attacks result in multiple victims with multiple simultaneous wounds, higher infection rates and rising rates of sepsis, it added.

MSF called on all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, and urged states with influence over Russia to demand an end to attacks on health facilities.

Debris in the mental hospital in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine, on March 22, 2022, following Russian shelling
Debris in the mental hospital in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine, on March 22, 2022, following Russian shelling
© AFP

It also called on the UN Security Council to investigate and publicly condemn attacks on healthcare.

MSF had the equivalent of 414 full-time staff in Ukraine in 2024, with a budget of 15.6 million euros ($17.8 million).

It carried out 75,400 outpatient consultations and 1,150 surgical interventions.

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