The war in Ukraine has already led to the absolute devastation of several frontline areas, the organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounced on Thursday in a report calling for respect for humanitarian law.
“Along the 1,000 kilometers of the frontline in Ukraine, some areas were just wiped off the map,” said Christopher Stokes, MSF’s head of programs in Ukraine, quoted in the report.
The Geneva-based non-governmental organization (NGO) said the destruction of health infrastructure since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, was of “enormous magnitude”.
He hated that too there are serious barriers to accessing medical care in Russian-occupied areas such as Donetsk in the east of the country.
MSF teams detected the presence of anti-personnel mines in operational hospitals in areas previously under Russian occupation, in the regions of Kherson, Donetsk and Izyum, at least three times in October.
“The use of mines [antipessoais] is widespread in frontline areas, but to see them placed in medical facilities is shocking: a remarkable act of inhumanity,” said Vincenzo Porpiglia, MSF project coordinator in the Donetsk region.
“It sends a clear message to those who come for medication or treatment: hospitals are not a safe place,” complained Porpiglia, also quoted in the report.
Source: DN
