“Same tactics, same inȷuries”: the targeting of healthcare in Syria and Ukraine

Since Russia invaded in late February 2022, the World Health Organization has confirmed 330 attacks on healthcare in Ukraine (up to 30 June). These have resulted in at least 76 deaths and 59 injuries, with numerous health facilities, transport, staff, patients, supplies, and medical warehouses impacted.1It is not the first time Russia has been accused of targeting healthcare in conflict.2 The decade of war in Syria has seen at least 595 attacks on 350 separate medical facilities, with over 900 medical personnel killed (up to March 2020). These attacks were largely carried out by Syrian and Russian governments, despite intentionally targeting healthcare settings being illegal under international law.34“It is the same tactic—targeting hospitals, targeting medical centres—and the injuries are the same as in Syria because the same weapons are now being used in Ukraine,” says Ahmad Aldbis, international missions director for the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM).With…
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