'I ran because I knew I would die': Russian drones target medics in Ukraine

Inna Lytvynenko, a paramedic, consistently dons her orange body armor before responding to emergency calls. Last June, while attending to an injured woman in Kherson, a Russian FPV drone targeted her ambulance. Panicking and fearing for her life, Lytvynenko began to run, shouting and screaming as she chased the drone for approximately ten minutes.

Eventually, the drone departed. However, the harassment continued, with drones striking two more vehicles that came to aid the injured woman. Following another attack earlier this week, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Russia to halt the deliberate "hunting attacks" on civilians. Hospitals and ambulances in Ukraine have increasingly suffered Russian drone and missile strikes, despite being protected by the Geneva Conventions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has registered 3,118 attacks on healthcare since Russia's invasion in February 2022, a rate that has risen by 30% in 2024 compared to the previous year. Russia is reportedly targeting Ukrainian medical facilities with deliberate intent, following a recent Doctors Without Borders (MSF) report. The frequency of attacks, which account for 20% of all strikes on Ukraine's healthcare system, suggests that they are a calculated strategy, not merely a consequence of large-scale offensives.

This has resulted in civilians, particularly the elderly, being increasingly cut off from health services, facing a slow death without medication and occasional check-ups. MSF has ceased regular visits to around 80 villages near the frontlines, and has paused ambulance services in Sloviansk. MSF country coordinator in Ukraine, Robin Meldrum, emphasizes the increasing danger and the need for respect for the rules of war.