The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has “documented 200 attacks on hospitals and clinics” in Ukraine, adding that it was gathering evidence for a possible war crimes investigation into the attacks. “Intentional attacks on health care facilities are a breach of international humanitarian law and as such—based on investigation and attribution of the attack—represent war crimes in any situation,” WHO Emergencies Director Mike Ryan said on Saturday in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. “We continue to document and bear witness to these attacks…and we trust that the UN system and the International Criminal Court and others will take the necessary investigations in order to assess the criminal intent behind these attacks.”
Ryan, on an unannounced visit together with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a news conference it was the explicit responsibility of warring parties to avoid attacking health facilities. Russia has denied previous accusations by Ukraine and Western nations of possible war crimes and has also denied targeting civilians in the war. Ryan said the 200 cases did not represent the totality of attacks on Ukrainian medical facilities, only those the WHO had verified. Kyiv has said there have been approximately 400 such attacks since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
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