August 15, 2024: In Ukraine Russian attacks are now targeting more civilian targets. In early July 2024, a Russian missile struck a children’s hospital in Kyiv. Russia has been attacking Ukrainian hospitals since the start of the war but is now concentrating on medical facilities that specialize in treating children. Russia has been attacking Ukrainian hospitals with missiles since the start of the war. So far Russia has made about 1,700 attacks on hospitals resulting in nearly 500 deaths and injuries among patients and medical staff.

Russian attacks on hospitals are not only deliberate but meant to demoralize the Ukrainian public and weaken support for the war. There was some demoralization among families that had lost children in these attacks but for most Ukrainians these attacks were a reminder of why Ukraine broke free of Russian control in the 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Russian misbehavior had been a Ukrainian problem for centuries. The recent hospital attacks are a reminder of that.