An investigation by the Center for Information Resilience (CIR) concluded that Russia deliberately targeted medical infrastructure in Kherson, Ukraine, after losing control of the city in November.
At least seven medical facilities in Kherson were targeted in at least fourteen attacks carried out by Russian artillery between November 2022 and May this year, according to a CIR report by EFE news agency.
“The continued bombing of hospitals, maternity wards and rehabilitation centers could endanger the sustainability and functioning of the city’s health sector”the study’s authors emphasize, warning of the risk of Russia repeating this pattern of aggression against other Ukrainian locations.
According to experts from this non-governmental organization (NGO), which works to expose human rights violations and war crimes through the analysis of satellite images and social media, after liberating the city on November 11, Russia civilian infrastructure in Kherson intensified.
Until then, only one incident had been recorded against a medical institution under Russian rule.
However, after the liberation of Kherson, maternity hospitals, cardiology centers, rehabilitation centers and children’s hospitals were hit by artillery fire.
The first of these bombings took place just six weeks after the expulsion of Russian troops. The maternity ward of Kherson City Clinical Hospital came under Russian artillery fire on December 27, 2022, but there were no casualties.
The month with the highest number of attacks was last January, with five, while there were three in December and February, two in March and one in April.
Between May and July this year there was a decrease in bombings of medical facilities, although medical workers evacuating civilians after the collapse of the Kakhovka Dam in June were attacked and damage was noted in the same clinical hospital in August.
The NGO emphasizes that Moscow’s actions are reminiscent of Russian tactics in the rebel-held areas of Idleb and Aleppo in Syria.
Source: DN
