Russia has damaged, destroyed over 2,300 medical infrastructure facilities since beginning of full-scale invasion, health ministry says
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Russian forces have damaged or destroyed more than 2,300 medical infrastructure facilities since the start of the full-scale invasion, the Health Ministry said on May 7.
Russia deliberately targets critical infrastructure on a regular basis in Ukraine, including medical facilities, resulting in severe destruction and numerous civilian casualties.
Some 2020 medical facilities were partially damaged, while another 305 were completely destroyed, the ministry's statement read.
Medical facilities in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts were most affected.
Throughout the all-out war, one of the most destructive Russian attacks on medical facilities in terms of casualties was on the Ohkmadyt children's hospital in Kyiv.
Russian forces hit Ukraine's largest children's medical center on July 8, killing two adults and injuring at least 34 people, including nine children. Footage showed that the building suffered a direct hit by a Russian missile rather than being damaged by fallen debris.
The missile, fired from a plane of the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, kept maneuvering and changing its flight path, indicating an intention to bypass Ukrainian air defenses and hit the medical facility, according to Ukraine's Security Service (SBU).
Apart from hospitals, outpatient clinics, and maternity hospitals, Russian troops regularly attack ambulances. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 116 ambulances have been damaged, 274 destroyed, and 80 seized.
Ukraine and its international partners have managed to fully rebuild 700 medical facilities and partially restore 312, including critical hospitals and primary health care centers in the frontline regions.
Read also: 'She fed all the birds, dogs, and cats' — 64-year-old animal rescue volunteer and son killed in Russian attack on Kyiv
We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
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