The war in Ukraine has already caused the absolute destruction of several front-line areas, denounces the organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in a report calling for respect for humanitarian law.
“Along the 1,000 km of the front line in Ukraine, some areas were simply wiped off the map,” Christopher Stokes, head of MSF programs in Ukraine, was quoted as saying in the report.
The Geneva-based non-governmental organization (NGO) said the destruction of health infrastructure since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022 was on “a massive scale”.
He also denounced that there are serious impediments to accessing medical care in areas occupied by Russia, such as Donetsk, in the east of the country.
MSF teams detected on at least three occasions in October the presence of anti-personnel mines inside operating hospitals in areas previously occupied by Russia in the Kherson, Donetsk and Izyum regions.
“The use of mines [antipessoais] it is widespread in frontline areas, but to see them located in medical facilities is shocking: a remarkable act of inhumanity,” said MSF project coordinator in the Donetsk region, Vincenzo Porpiglia.
“It sends a clear message to those who come for medication or treatment: hospitals are not a safe place,” lamented Porpiglia, also quoted in the report.
Source: TSF
