WHO demanded that Russia cease attacks on Ukraine's health network: “It is a violation of International Humanitarian Law”

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Wednesday that attacks by Russian troops on health workers and Ukrainian patients so far left dozens of dead, and demanded an end to hostilities.

At a press conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus indicated that to date 82 attacks by the invading forces have been recorded, causing at least 72 deaths and 43 injuries, including health professionals and patients.

Ghebreyesus assured that the organization continues to work with local and international partners to deliver medical supplies to the most affected areas of Ukraine. Therefore, he urged the Russian authorities to allow the arrival of supplies, especially in the cities hardest hit by the invasion, such as Mariupol.

“We have issued lines, guidelines and donations in which we have included a list of critical supplies that are urgently needed. We continue to call for guarantees of safe passage to deliver supplies to Mariupol and other besieged cities,” he demanded from Russian troops.

The director of WHO also commented that nearly 160 tons of supplies have been delivered so far.

During the press conference he regretted that the war continues on Ukrainian soil and demanded that the attacks “cease immediately” because “attacking a health institution is a clear violation of International Humanitarian Law”: “We cannot continue to witness attacks on health institutions since the beginning of the invasion by the Russian Federation”.

These words of Ghebreyesus come a day after Jarno Habicht, WHO representative in Ukraine, denounced the continuing Russian attacks against the Ukrainian health network.

“Attacks on health are ongoing, putting healthcare workers at risk and preventing patients from having a safe place to care,” said Habicht, during a video conference held on Tuesday from Lviv, a city located in western Ukraine.

The official argued that attacks on health facilities are unacceptable and warned that they violate international humanitarian standards.

The WHO local official also stressed that the Ukrainian health system is under heavy pressure due to the fact that a large part of the population within the country is far from their homes. Today, almost 6.5 million people are internally displaced.

For their part, many health workers have also moved to safer areas or left the country, which further complicates care and increases the work of those who have remained.

Access to medicines is also becoming increasingly difficult due to the closure of many pharmacies. Habicht explained that some 10,500 are in operation today, half of those before the Russian invasion.

“Hospitals are adapting to the situation, with an increase in treatments for injuries and injuries, especially in the east of the country,” said Habicht, who also indicated that most emergency aid sent by WHO is directed to that area of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the invasion on February 24, Russian troops have carried out brutal bombardments against the civilian population, destroying apartments, supermarkets, theaters, town halls and other buildings. In the besieged Mariupol, in the south of the country, Putin's forces destroyed buildings of a hospital complex, including a maternity ward. Images of that event traveled the world, provoking the indignation of the international community. At least three people, including one child, were killed in the attack.

The mayor's office of Mariupol on Wednesday denounced the forced evacuation to Russia of a maternity hospital in this besieged city in southeastern Ukraine, where another maternity hospital was bombed by the Russians on March 9.

“More than 70 people - women and medical personnel - were forcibly taken by the occupiers,” the mayor's office said on Telegram.

In total, more than 20,000 inhabitants of Mariupol have been evacuated “against their will” to Russia, according to the municipality, which claims that the Russians confiscated their documents and redirected them “to remote Russian cities.”

In Kiev, for their part, medical centers have been close to the combat zones, making it difficult for Ukrainians to take in the wounded.

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