In one of the largest missile attacks on Ukraine, Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv, the country’s largest children’s hospital, was hit today. Children with serious medical conditions, some requiring critical life support, are waiting for evacuation or re-hospitalisation, according to the Minister of Health of Ukraine. This was also the largest diagnostic facility for children in the country, and the dialysis department was particularly damaged.
"Increasingly, our teams are witnessing attacks on civilian and medical infrastructure by the Russian forces across Ukraine, on frontline towns and villages and deeper in the country. Hospitals are being destroyed;patients and medical staff are being killed. The Okhmatdyt Hospital in Kyiv, which was attacked today, is known to our teams. At the beginning of the full-scale war, our doctors assisted medical staff in the surgical wards and provided training for physical therapists. It is unacceptable that patients cannot feel safe and receive treatment within the walls of a hospital," said Christopher Stokes, emergency coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reports that the missile strike on Okhmatdyt hospital resulted in two adults being killed, and there are 16 wounded, including 7 children. Search and rescue operations are ongoing. There may be people trapped under the rubble. Rescuers and volunteers are urgently working to reach the basement of the hospital building, which collapsed due to the missile impact, as children and medical personnel were sheltering there during the alarm.
An MSF team visited the hospital today to assess the situation and offer assistance if necessary. Médecins Sans Frontières responds to requests from the Ministry of Health. We support hospitals near the frontline and departments of medical institutions where early physical rehabilitation is provided to patients with war injuries. Our teams continue to assist medical facilities with the evacuation of patients between hospitals and cities by MSF ambulances.
