The missile attack on the building of the National Specialized Children’s Hospital “Okhmatdyt” in Kyiv is a war crime as hitting civilian objects, especially hospitals, is one of the criteria of this particularly serious violation. It is crucial that the incident be brought to the public’s attention so as to illustrate the brutality of the war and the unrestrained use of resources to intimidate Ukraine and its people, who are heroically resisting this conflict, the permanent expert of IPN’s project Igor Boţan stated in a public debate centering on war crimes.
The expert noted that he has seen numerous documents, publications confirming that the attack on the children’s hospital in Kyiv was a well-aimed action. This evidence must be presented by the judicial authority so that a correct decision is taken. Now the citizens are entitled to believe that this was just an element in a chain of countless war crimes.
Igor Boţan expressed his conviction that this incident is not accidental as missile attacks on major Ukrainian cities are carried out with particular periodicity by the Russian Federation. The “three-day special operation” has already lasted for two and a half years and the war in Ukraine has evolved into a new phase – positional combat operations in the contact area of Ukrainian defenders and Russian troops. This is a war of attrition in which the Russian Federation has more resources, both human and material.
According to the expert, the war of attrition consists in weakening Ukrainian resources and emotionally exhausting Ukrainian citizens in order to encourage them to put pressure on the Ukrainian authorities so that they accept the Russian president’s ultimatum to recognize the defeat of Ukraine and concede the over 20% of the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. On the other hand, there are the Ukrainian authorities that are taking all measures to protect the country and find an acceptable solution to resolve this conflict. Therefore, the targeted bombing is aimed at intimidating Ukrainian society and force it to give in to Russian pressure.
The permanent expert of IPN’s project noted that while the Moldovan leadership condemns this attack and the leaders of big countries decide to increase aid to Ukraine to help it resist these threats, the citizens of Moldova and other countries are getting used to such attacks, which is very terrible. Russia gradually admits that it has been waging a war of conquest and at this stage it is not clear when this war can end. “Now is the time for Moldovan society to learn lessons from what is happening in Ukraine and to demonstrate solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” concluded Igor Boţan.
The public debate entitled “War crimes: reasons and consequences” was the 310th installment of IPN’s project “Developing political culture through public debates”, which is implemented with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
