In brief
In a series of targeted attacks this December and October, Russian forces destroyed key medical supply warehouses in Ukraine, resulting in the loss of $200 million worth of medicines. The recent strikes on facilities like BADM in Dnipro and Optima Pharm in Kyiv have raised concerns over the availability of essential health supplies, complicating the treatment of patients in the country. Despite the devastation, some officials express hope for a restoration of supplies within a month and a half.
Warehouses supplying the vast majority of Ukraine's pharmacies have been destroyed in a series of Russian attacks over recent months.
Medical supplies worth about $200m (£145m) were destroyed in just two strikes in December and October.
A large warehouse storing medicines in the city of Dnipro was destroyed in a Russian air strike on 6 December, resulting in $110m worth of medicines going up in flames—estimated at up to 30% of Ukraine's monthly supply.
It was a missile and drone strike against our facility. The missiles flew past, but the drones hit it, said Dmytro Babenko, acting director-general of pharmaceutical distributor BADM.
They caused a fire which unfortunately proved impossible to contain and the whole facility was destroyed. BADM and Optima Pharm are responsible for supplying about 85% of Ukrainian pharmacies in equal shares.
Optima Pharm's warehouses have been hit three times this year, with an attack on its main storage facility in Kyiv in October costing the firm over $100m, according to CFO Artem Suprun.
Russia denies targeting civilian sites, claiming an operational focus on military infrastructures. However, targeted strikes have left a mark on Ukraine's health system. More than 2,500 medical institutions have been damaged or destroyed, and over 500 healthcare workers have been killed since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The International Rescue Committee reported a loss of $195,000 worth of medications that could have served 30,000 individuals due to these attacks, which notably complicate the care available for the sick and wounded in Ukraine.
Despite the grim outlook, Babenko remains hopeful about alleviating supply shortages, expecting to restore normalcy within a month or a month and a half. Ukrainian authorities maintain that the healthcare system is under deliberate assault, a narrative that Moscow has repeatedly contested.
