eyeWitness to Atrocities, Insecurity Insight, the Media Initiative for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Ukrainian Healthcare Center – Report
On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation began its full-scale
invasion of Ukraine. This act of aggression against a sovereign
nation is a gross violation of international law, one that has been
widely condemned by the international community. In the year
that has followed, attacks on civilians and civilian objects have
been a hallmark of the war, with violence against the Ukrainian
health care system a prominent feature of Russia’s unlawful
conduct. One notorious incident came only two weeks after the fullscale invasion began, when Russia’s air force bombed a maternity
and children’s hospital in the city of Mariupol. The photograph of
a heavily pregnant woman being carried from the hospital on a
stretcher, who later died, together with her baby, became an early,
stark example of the brutal, indiscriminate way in which Russia
has waged its illegal war.
This report – a joint undertaking among eyeWitness to Atrocities
(eyeWitness), Insecurity Insight, the Media Initiative for Human
Rights (MIHR), Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), and the
Ukrainian Healthcare Center (UHC) – documents the staggering
toll that Russia’s aggression has had on Ukraine’s health care
system since February 2022. Using 10 case studies and a joint
dataset of attacks, this report shows how Russia appears to be
violating international humanitarian law by deliberately and
indiscriminately targeting Ukraine’s health care system as part of
a broader attack on its civilian population and infrastructure. As
the report details, the apparent targeting of the health care system
is carried out through a variety of means, including: (1) attacks on
health care facilities, (2) attacks on ambulances, (3) destruction of
critical health infrastructure and theft of supplies, and (4) assaults,
torture, and ill-treatment of health workers, including doctors,
nurses, and paramedics.
Read the full report here.