Physicians for Human Rights and Truth Hounds
Before the full-scale invasion by Russia in February 2022, Ukraine boasted one of the most developed power sectors in Europe, with universal access to electricity. However, by June 2024, available capacity had plummeted by 85 percent due to Russia’s systematic attacks on energy infrastructure. Russia has blocked gas transit to Ukraine, seized assets, launched cyberattacks, and, since October 2022, systematically bombed Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. By September 2024, Russia had allegedly destroyed all thermal power plants and nearly all large hydroelectric power plants.
This report – a joint undertaking by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and Truth Hounds (TH) – documents the cumulative and reverberating impacts of these attacks on energy on health care in Ukraine. As recognized by the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (UN HRMMU) and the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, attacks on energy have had devastating impacts on the health sector in Ukraine. Despite clear protections for health and energy infrastructure in conflict under international law, both sectors have been targeted by Russia. Through research surveying over 2,200 health care workers in Ukraine and case studies, Health Care in the Dark: The Impacts of Russian Attacks on Energy in Ukraine establishes patterns of how energy disruptions translate into short- and long-term health harms and how these harms may be considered violations of international law.
Read the full report here.
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