Russian Soldiers Hold Health Workers and Patients Hostage at Mariupol Hospital, says Human Rights Group
Humanitarian Crises 15/03/2022 •
Mariupol Regional Hospital before it was bombed

Health workers, patients and civilians have been held hostage at the Mariupol regional intensive care hospital in Ukraine by Russian troops since Monday morning, according to the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR).

Russian soldiers are using the hospital as a base to attack Ukrainian forces, and using the hostages as “human shields” according to MIHR, a respected human rights monitoring group in Ukraine.

“We received information from a doctor from the hospital. We can’t name him because of the threat to him. More information will be available after the person is safe,” the MIHR reported on its Facebook page.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional administration, also reported the hostage situation on his Telegram account.

Kyrylenko reported that a hostage had told him: “It is impossible to leave the hospital. There is heavy shelling. We sit in the basement. Cars have not been able to drive into the hospital for two days. High-rise buildings are burning around… Russians rushed 400 people from neighbouring houses to our hospital. We can’t leave. “

While the 550-bed tertiary hospital, the biggest in the Donetsk region, has suffered extensive damage, health workers have continued to attend to patients from the basement.

“I appeal to international human rights organizations to respond to these vicious violations of the norms and customs of war, to these egregious crimes against humanity,” said Kyrylenko.

Humanitarian groups have been appealing for days for a safe passage corridor to and from Mariupol. Some private cars were finally able to leave the city on Monday and Tuesday, the first time in 10 days. But Russian troops that have beseiged the city on all sides have not allowed relief workers to bring in desperately needed medical supplies, food or water.

Last week, Russian troops bombed the Mariupol maternity hospital, reportedly killing at least three people. A pregnant woman evacuated from the hospital and her baby later died from their injuries.

Mariupol’s deputy mayor, Sergey Orlov, told France24 on Tuesday that at least 2,358 people had been killed during the 11-day siege of the south-eastern city, and he had been fielding desperate calls from people trapped in basements without food or water.

‘Act of unconscionable cruelty’

The World Health Organization (WHO) has verified 31 attacks on health facilities between the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February and 11 March, resulting in 12 deaths and 34 injuries, of which 8 of the injured and 2 of those killed were health workers. 

“We call for an immediate cessation of all attacks on health care in Ukraine. These horrific attacks are killing and causing serious injuries to patients and health workers, destroying vital health infrastructure and forcing thousands to forgo accessing health services despite catastrophic needs,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,  UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell and UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem, in a joint statement on Sunday.

“To attack the most vulnerable – babies, children, pregnant women, and those already suffering from illness and disease, and health workers risking their own lives to save lives – is an act of unconscionable cruelty,” they added.

“We must be able to safely deliver emergency medical supplies – including those required for obstetric and neonatal care – to health centers, temporary facilities and underground shelters.”

Intentionally attacking health facilities is prohibited under international humanitarian law. 

Unusual position of surrogates

Since the start of the war, more than 4,300 Ukrainian women have given birth, and  80,000 others are expected to give birth in the next three months. 

“Oxygen and medical supplies, including for the management of pregnancy complications, are running dangerously low,” according to the three leaders.

“Many pregnant women may need health care, medication and assistance on a daily basis or when complications with pregnancy occur. When medical facilities are not accessible, are destroyed, or health care personnel and medical product are scarce or unavailable, maternal health can be endangered,” according to Eszther Kisomodi and Emma Pitchford, the chief executive and executive editor respectively of the journal, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters.

They also warned that many pregnant women might be in “particular and unusual situations” as Ukraine “is an international surrogacy hub, one of only a handful of countries in the world that legally allows foreigners to enter into surrogacy arrangements”.

https://twitter.com/thedalstonyears/status/1501861609446289410

“Being a surrogate is a job in Ukraine for many women, but not one that they can quit, or even put on hold. Very serious questions occur for all parties in this arrangement – for the pregnant women, the newborn child and the intended parents.”

The authors also highlight the precarious position of people with disabilities who cannot move easily, LBGTQ people in the face of hostile Russian forces, and people living with HIV in Ukraine, which has the second-highest infection rate in Europe.

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