Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has accused Russia of pursuing a deliberate strategy to dismantle Ukraine's healthcare infrastructure, citing a consistent pattern of attacks on medical facilities and personnel throughout the war. In a statement released on Monday, the medical humanitarian organisation said it had documented over 20 attacks on its own facilities between April 2022 and December 2025.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there have been 2,815 attacks on healthcare in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, with the vast majority involving heavy weapons. Of those, 2,319 directly impacted medical facilities, resulting in 224 deaths and 902 injuries. The WHO records attacks but does not assign responsibility.
Ukraine's health ministry reports that Russian forces have damaged or destroyed more than 2,500 medical facilities over the same period, with 327 completely destroyed. MSF argues that the scale and precision of these strikes rule out coincidence. “These attacks are too consistent, too frequent and too precise to be accidental,” said Robin Meldrum, MSF's country coordinator in Ukraine. “When hospitals are struck repeatedly, when ambulances are targeted with precision drones, when medical workers are killed whilst en route to delivering medicines in clearly marked vehicles – this is no coincidence. This is a pattern; patterns are driven by intent.”
Rising Drone Attacks and Staff Shortages
The attacks have created a severe crisis in access to healthcare, particularly for patients with chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and epilepsy. MSF warned that the disruption directly translates into preventable suffering and death. Facilities that remain operational are critically understaffed: at one MSF-supported hospital in Kherson, the number of doctors has fallen by 66% since 2022.
MSF teams operating in eastern and southern Ukraine face the constant threat of First-Person View (FPV) drone attacks, which allow operators to identify and strike targets with real-time precision. On 29 September last year, a nurse and a director from an MSF-supported health centre in Lyman were struck by a Russian FPV drone while delivering medicines in a clearly marked vehicle. The NGO noted that drone warfare is rapidly outpacing the medical response, with injuries now more frequently caused by drones than by artillery. These attacks often result in multiple victims with multiple simultaneous wounds, higher infection rates, and rising cases of sepsis.
MSF called on all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and urged states with influence over Russia to demand an end to attacks on health facilities. It also called on the UN Security Council to investigate and publicly condemn such attacks. The organisation had the equivalent of 414 full-time staff in Ukraine in 2024, with a budget of €15.6 million.
The findings come amid broader international concern over Russia's conduct in Ukraine. In related developments, the Coalition of the Willing gathered in Paris ahead of Bastille Day to bolster Ukraine support, while overnight Russian ballistic missiles and drones hit Kyiv, injuring 10 including a child. The EU has also taken steps to penalise cultural institutions that engage with Russia, as seen in the withdrawal of a €2 million grant from the Venice Biennale over the reopening of the Russian Pavilion.
