Russian attack on hospital kills ten people in Ukraine’s Sumy region
- 29 September, 08:41
At least ten people were killed and 22 others were injured as Russia attacked a hospital in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region on Saturday morning.
The Saint Panteleimon Clinical Hospital was struck by "loitering munitions" or suicide drones during two strikes that were delivered 45 minutes apart, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine Danielle Bell said.
"Most of the fatalities occurred during the second strike, which hit as first responders arrived at the site and patients attempted to evacuate," she said
"Medical facilities are protected under international humanitarian law and are entitled to special protection. They must not be the object of attack," Bell stressed, adding that 33 civilians had been killed and 132 injured in Sumy city and the surrounding region since August 6.
Fifteen of the injured people were in hospital during the attack, five of them in serious condition. Sumy City Council said on its website that nine high-rise buildings were damaged in addition to the hospital.
According to Ukrainian prosecutors, at the time of the attacks 86 patients and 38 staff members were in the hospital.
Sumy city is located 32 km from the Russian border. It should be noted that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the Sumy attack one day after his meeting with Republican presidential nominee Donal Trump in New York.
