Experts compare Mariupol with Grozny and Aleppo. Russian occupiers damaged and destroyed 80% of the city’s medical facilities 

Analysts shared the results of their research with Espreso TV.

According to experts of the Ukrainian Health Center, the Russian military critically damaged or destroyed 8 out of 10 places where medical assistance was provided to the community of Mariupol and part of the Donetsk region (82 out of 106), and in some areas - more than 90%. Vital medical infrastructure was affected: more than 2/3 of primary care clinics, almost all multidisciplinary hospitals, children's institutions and maternity homes, as well as two buildings of a psychiatric hospital.

Most of the destruction of Mariupol's medical infrastructure was a result of massive indiscriminate shelling of the city, which continued throughout March and partly in April. After these bombings, entire districts became uninhabitable, and the city’s residents lost access to any medical care.

Illustration source: UHC

In addition to indiscriminate shelling, there is also evidence of targeted attacks on medical facilities. It was in Mariupol that the most high-profile cases of targeted attacks on civilian objects were recorded, such as an airstrike on the Children's and Women's Health Center or the drama theatre building. The enemy's goal was to instill terror among the civilian population. As the UHC emphasizes, this type of attack is prohibited by international humanitarian law.

Those institutions that were not destroyed became victims of other war crimes: their premises were seized and used for military purposes, personnel were forcibly expelled and equipment was taken away, or doctors were prevented from fulfilling their professional duties.

The city is in a situation of an acute shortage of medicines and the impossibility of providing specialized care due to the lack of equipment. The invaders blocked the access of international humanitarian organizations. The situation was so critical that in some cases people had to melt snow to get drinking water.

In June, the mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, reported that the city was on the verge of outbreaks of cholera and dysentery. International organizations got limited access to Mariupol only in the summer, when the city was already occupied.

Taking into account the fact that Mariupol has been under active shelling since the beginning of hostilities, and has been effectively under Russian occupation since May 20, the UHC team did not have the opportunity to visit the locations and collect evidence independently. Experts based their assessments and calculations on information from open sources, witnesses’ accounts, as well as satellite images provided by partners.

Reference. Mariupol is a large industrial city, the second most populous in the Donetsk region. It has been developing dynamically in recent years. Despite the fact that hostilities around Mariupol have been going on since 2015, infrastructure has been improved here, and numerous projects in the fields of culture, education and urban planning have been implemented. The flow of investments and international grant projects to the city increased. However, in 2022, it became the theatre of mass destruction and war crimes, which have almost no analogues since World War II. The destruction of Mariupol can only be compared with the destruction of Grozny in Chechnya or Aleppo in Syria, and everywhere the Russian Federation had a hand in.

Before the Russian invasion, there was an extensive network of medical care facilities in the city. These were six primary care centres that united 46 medical clinics in the city and suburbs of Sartana, Talakivka and Vynohradne. General specialised care was provided by five multidisciplinary city hospitals and one multidisciplinary regional hospital, which also served residents of the controlled territory of Donetsk region together with the regional hospital in Kramatorsk. Specialized care for children and mothers was provided by the city territorial medical association "Child and Women's Health", the city maternity hospital and the city perinatal center. Mariupol also had a separate city psychiatric hospital. Seven private medical institutions were included in the system of state medical services.

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