Remarks by Dr. Volodymyr Zhovnir, Director of the National Children’s Hospital “Okhmatdyt” at the UN Security Council meeting on the agenda item

“Maintenance of international peace and security”

9 July 2024, New York

Dear members of the Security Council,

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

I’m Volodymyr Zhovnir, a doctor and director of Okhmatdyt since January 2021.

Okhmatdyt means Mother and Child Care and it is Ukraine’s largest children's medical center. The hospital treats children with cancer and blood diseases from all over the country. Each year, around 18,000 children receive treatment, around 20,000 receive emergency care, and we perform about 13,000 surgeries. The hospital also offers treatments to patients from other countries.

Yesterday, at 9:52 am an air raid siren sounded. The hospital staff began evacuating patients to the bomb shelter. This is challenging with children in intensive care. For the past two and a half years of the russian war against Ukraine, our staff have done everything possible during each attack to save lives and minimize deaths.

At that time yesterday, more than 600 patients and around the same number of hospital workers were in the hospital: children were on drips, on dialysis, in intensive care. On top of that, at the time of the attack, three heart surgeries were in progress in the operating rooms. Pausing them would have threatened lives.

At 10:42 am, we felt a powerful explosion. The ground shook, and the walls trembled. Both children and adults screamed and cried from fear, and the wounded from pain. It was real hell.

We went out into the yard and saw that a russian missile had struck the intensive care and a therapy department for chronic intoxications. That part of the building was completely destroyed. The floors collapsed, and we could hear people crying out for help from beneath the rubble.

As a result of the attack, over 30 people were injured, including 8 children. Two adults died, one of them was a doctor.

The primary goal is to evacuate patients who rely on life-support systems. We evacuated over 600 patients, more than 100 were transferred to other hospitals. Evacuation continues.

Our medical staff have also been taken to other hospitals to provide medical aid.

The Hospital's toxicology building and traumatology department have been completely destroyed.

A part of the country's only oncological laboratory was destroyed.

In total 24 departments are damaged: including 10 surgical departments, 5 oncology departments, 3 intensive care units, 2 operating blocks, 2 somatic departments, the radiology department, prenatal care department and the radiation therapy department.

We had to suspend medical services in the departments of Toxicology and Emergency Medical Care. Operations at the trauma unit are halted. We continue evaluating the full damage caused by this direct russian attack on the childrens´ hospital.

The strike will have long-lasting effects. Patients will face a shortage of medical care, and our specialized services with high-tech equipment won't be restored soon. This will have serious long-term impacts on Ukrainian children needing medical care.

The psychological trauma on children from this attack is severe. It will last a long time and could affect them for their whole lives.

To conclude, striking a children's hospital, where children are treated for cancer and other heavy diseases, is not just a war crime, it is far beyond the limits of humanity.

Our doctors and employees have been saving children's lives to the last, even under missiles and fire. We will not surrender!

Thank you for your attention.