Ukraine has endured 2000 attacks on the country’s health care system, according to documentation and monitoring by human rights and humanitarian organizations. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 Ukraine has experienced:
- 2000 total attacks on health care
- 1059 attacks damaged or destroyed hospitals
- 285 health workers killed
- 245 health workers injured
- 105 attacks affecting children’s hospitals
- 81 attacks affecting maternal health facilities
- 178 attacks on hospital utilities
“This brutal milestone and pattern of attacks clearly illustrates the Russian Federation’s aim to eliminate Ukrainians’ access to life-saving medical care and create conditions that jeopardize basic treatment and survival,” said Uliana Poltavets, PHR’s Ukraine emergency response coordinator. “As Ukrainian civilians across the country – including health workers and patients – come under sustained attack, the global community must prioritize and advance accountability for these crimes.”
Russia’s escalating assault on Ukraine in recent months has included mounting attacks on the country’s civilian population and infrastructure, including hospitals and health workers.
The attacks on health care have picked up pace in 2025 with the intensification of drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. On Monday, Russian forces reportedly attacked a hospital in Sumy region, with 10 people injured. Last week, a Russian drone and missile assault reportedly damaged a maternity hospital in Kharkiv and destroyed a primary care clinic in Kyiv.
The new data is from a coalition of global and Ukrainian organizations, including eyeWitness to Atrocities, Insecurity Insight, the Media Initiative for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Truth Hounds, and the Ukrainian Healthcare Center. The 2000 attacks are depicted on an interactive map (attacksonhealthukraine.org).
The organizations have been monitoring and documenting attacks on Ukraine’s health care system since the onset of the full-scale invasion, including through a series of publications. The dataset uses the definitions of attacks on health care as defined by the World Health Organization and used by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition. The interactive map is updated with attacks on health care as of April 2025.
“The global community should safeguard the Ukrainian health workers who risk it all to save lives,” said Poltavets. “Russia’s continued assault on civilian infrastructure underscores the life-saving impact of humanitarian and health aid. At this critical moment, global leadership, particularly sustained support for accountability efforts, is more needed than ever.”
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. Learn more here.