Ukraine 5 AM Coalition condemns the Russian shelling strike on Ukraine's medical facilities

Below is the statement by the Ukraine 5 AM Coalition, which the Institute of Mass Information is a member of, on Russia's July 8, 2024 missile attack on Ukraine's medical facilities and civilian infrastructure.

On the morning of July 8, the Russian Federation launched a series of missile strikes targeting Ukraine's civilian infrastructure. Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Slovyansk, and Kramatorsk were affected. About 40 missiles of various types were launched from the territory of Russia. Unfortunately, some of them hit their marks, causing destruction to residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, and children's hospitals.

According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, as of 8:00 a.m., 27 people were killed in Kyiv, and another 117 were injured. Unfortunately, the number of victims may grow, as the rescue operations are still ongoing.

One of the objects targeted by the Russian army was the children's hospital "Okhmatdyt" in Kyiv. Investigators from the SBU claim that the strike was carried out by an Kh-101 missile.

"Okhmatdyt" is a multi-specialty diagnostic and treatment hospital in Kyiv providing specialized, highly qualified medical care to children from all over Ukraine. This is the largest specialized children's hospital in the country, known not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe. About nine thousand surgeries are performed here yearly. On the onset of the large-scale invasion, the hospital's buildings became a shelter for patients and the staff.

The Russian attack resulted in significant damage to the facility. There are people trapped under the rubble; the exact number of the injured and dead is being clarified. At least two medics of the hospital were killed. The rescue operations are ongoing.

The obstetrics and gynecology clinic "ISIDA" in Kyiv was also damaged by the missile attack. The clinic specializes in infertility treatments, obstetrics, gynecology, mammology and pediatrics. So far, seven dead and three injured people have been reported. The building has been partially destroyed, and the search operations are underway.

Attacks on medical institutions are a war crime and a gross violation of international humanitarian law. This is also a characteristic technique of the Russian army, routinely employed in the wars in Chechnya and Syria. The armed aggression against Ukraine is no exception. During the two years of the full-scale war, Russia has damaged or destroyed 1,736 medical facilities in Ukraine. One of the most famous tragedies was the strike on a maternity hospital in Mariupol on March 9, 2022, which left at least 39 people killed or injured.

Today, the presidents of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Moldova, as well as the prime ministers of Great Britain and Estonia, condemned Russia's attack on children's hospitals. In turn, Ukraine initiated an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council, which is currently chaired by Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine has opened proceedings, classifying the shelling strikes on hospitals as a violation of the laws and customs of war.

However, both international condemnation and the convening of any treaty bodies are clearly not enough to stop the destruction of civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine's medical facilities, or to ensure that the masterminds and perpetrators of these attacks face responsibility.

Therefore, we call on the international community:

• to step up efforts to timely provide Ukraine with effective air defense systems in sufficient quantity, as well as to provide other kinds of military support so Ukraine can effectively defend against Russian attacks and exercise its right to self-defense as per Article 51 of the UN Charter;
• to introduce more effective sanctions against various sectors of the Russian economy, which provide a financial basis for waging an aggressive war against Ukraine;
• to introduce sanctions against those economic entities from various countries that allow the aggressor state to circumvent the existing restrictions.

We appeal to the International Criminal Court not to set a limited time frame for investigating the attacks on critical infrastructure on March 9, 2023. Today's brutal attack shows that Russia continues to target civilian objects. Given the recent personnel changes in Russia's military leadership, we emphasize the need for new arrest warrants targeting not only the military command, but also the top political leadership of the Russian Federation.

We call on international organizations, in particular the UN Commission of Inquiry, to properly document today's criminal shelling of civilian objects, including the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital and the ISIDA clinic.

We call on the international community, in particular the members of the Core Group, to create an accountability mechanism mandated to bring all perpetrators of today's most grave international crimes to justice. Such crimes include the crime of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. This mechanism should contribute to strengthening the potential of the national law enforcement system to ensure high-quality and effective justice.

We call on Ukraine's government to prioritize the improvement of the national law so as to ensure a high-quality investigation of the actions of Russia's military and political leadership, which have led to yet another tragedy. We believe that the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is an urgent necessity. This document will become the basis for ensuring inevitable accountability for war crimes.