The United Nations’ reproductive health agency announced Thursday that two other Ukrainian maternity hospitals had been attacked and destroyed before Russia’s strike on a facility in the southeastern city of Mariupol on Wednesday.
The hospital in Mariupol is “not the only one” that has fallen under assault, said Jaime Nadal, the Ukraine lead for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
“In Zhytomyr, the maternity (hospital) was completely destroyed. In Saltivsky, the maternity (hospital) was also destroyed,” he noted, speaking via videoconference with journalists in New York.
The UN official did not specify who launched the attacks on the other hospitals or if there were any victims.
“There are 300 hospitals and 69 maternities, perinatal centers” in Ukraine, he said, noting that his agency estimates “over the next three months about 80,000 women will be giving birth” in the country.
According to Nadal, Ukraine currently has around 240,000 women who are pregnant, and over 4,300 women have already given birth in the time between Russia’s invasion on February 24 through March 7.
In Mariupol, the bombing of the maternity hospital resulted in three deaths, including one child, according to the city’s mayor. An earlier tally by Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday said 17 people were injured.
The attack on the hospital was harshly condemned by Ukraine and Western nations.
The European Union’s top foreign policy chief on Thursday accused Russia of committing a “war crime” by shelling the facility.
AFP