Hospitals under target: how Russian aggression is destroying Ukraine's medical institutions

ABSTRACT. The article describes the attacks of the Russian Federation on Ukrainian medical institutions. As of the end of 2024, it is known that 1938 medical facilities in Ukraine were damaged. It provides a retrospective review of war crimes against doctors in wars that the aggressor waged earlier – in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria. The actions of the Russians after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the invasion of Donbas are described. The international legal levers are listed through which war criminals can be brought to justice. It gives examples of aggressive actions of the invaders in different years of the war against medical institutions in different cities of Ukraine – Trostianets, Chernihiv, Mariupol, Kyiv. Arguments are presented about the intentionality of the actions by the occupiers, which exclude randomness, and therefore, they are undoubted war crimes. It highlights the difficult working conditions of doctors in Kherson during the occupation.