Russian forces struck the territory of the regional children's clinical hospital in Zaporizhzhia on the evening of August 4, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional military administration.
Fedorov said that at the moment of the air raid alert, all the children were in a shelter along with medical staff, and that there were no casualties. He said the facility's facade and windows were damaged.
Public broadcaster Suspilne, citing an eyewitness, reported that patients who could not be moved remained in their hospital rooms during the attack. One mother told the broadcaster that her child was being treated at the hospital following a Russian guided bomb strike on June 28, and that because the boy was in a cast, he could not get down to the shelter during the latest attack. Suspilne said most children and medical staff had nonetheless made it to shelter.
Pattern of strikes on Ukrainian cities
Russian forces regularly attack Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure across all regions of Ukraine using strike drones, missiles, guided aerial bombs and multiple rocket launcher systems, according to the report. Ukrainian authorities and international organizations describe these strikes as war crimes committed by the Russian Federation and say they are deliberate in nature.
The source states that Ukrainian officials, genocide researchers and human rights advocates consider that Russia is committing acts during the full-scale war that may fall under the definition of genocide. These cited acts include public statements by Russian officials denying the existence of Ukrainians as a distinct nation, targeted strikes on utilities and healthcare facilities, persecution of pro-Ukrainian residents in occupied territories, the deportation of children without parents to Russia, and the removal of Ukrainian books from libraries and artifacts from museums in occupied areas.
The report notes that the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide has been ratified by 149 countries, which are obligated to prevent and punish such acts during war and peacetime. The convention defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
Russia's leadership denies that its army deliberately strikes civilian infrastructure in Ukrainian cities and villages or that it kills civilians and destroys hospitals, schools, kindergartens and energy and water facilities, according to the report.
