DNIPRO: A warehouse belonging to the World Health Organization (WHO) and storing essential medical supplies for Ukraine has been destroyed in an attack in the city of Dnipro, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday.
Tedros said the WHO humanitarian warehouse was struck on Friday, destroying medical supplies intended for healthcare facilities operating near the front lines. No casualties were reported.
According to the WHO chief, a staff member and several drivers had been at the warehouse earlier in the day. The team managed to evacuate 130 of around 300 pallets of medical supplies before leaving the area ahead of the attack.
The warehouse primarily contained emergency medical supplies designed to support health facilities dealing with the humanitarian impact of the ongoing war.
The WHO records attacks on healthcare facilities and infrastructure in Ukraine but does not assign responsibility for individual incidents under its reporting methodology.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the WHO has documented 3,148 attacks on healthcare across the country. The incidents include attacks affecting medical facilities, warehouses and medical supplies.
According to the agency, 2,567 attacks affected healthcare facilities, 71 targeted warehouses and 645 impacted medical supplies. The documented attacks have resulted in at least 240 deaths and 1,055 injuries.
Tedros strongly condemned attacks on healthcare, warning that such incidents prevent civilians from accessing potentially life-saving treatment.
He stressed that healthcare workers and medical infrastructure must be protected even during armed conflicts, emphasizing that international humanitarian law requires health services to remain protected.
MSF Raises Concerns Over Healthcare Destruction
The latest incident comes after Doctors Without Borders (MSF) accused Russia of carrying out repeated attacks on healthcare infrastructure in Ukraine.
MSF said it had documented a continuing pattern of attacks on medical facilities and healthcare workers during the conflict, arguing that the incidents appeared to go beyond the incidental consequences of warfare.
Russia has repeatedly denied deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
As the war continues, both Russia and Ukraine have intensified long-range strikes, increasing risks to civilian populations and putting further pressure on Ukraine’s already strained healthcare system.
