Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams worked alongside local medical staff to treat 67 people injured by the strikes. The incident was one of the biggest mass casualty events we have responded to Ukraine since the beginning of the recent escalation.
The attack took place in the afternoon and in a residential area, close to a children’s playground, a public transportation stop, and a café. Among those injured were elderly people and children. At least five people were killed, according to local authorities.
Responding to immense, urgent needs
An MSF nurse at one of the main hospitals in Pavlohrad helped with the immediate triage of patients, while MSF urgently sent anesthetists, experienced doctors, and paramedics from other locations to help as the scale of the carnage became clear.
“Our teams were working across several departments,” said an MSF nurse, whose name is withheld at her request. “While we were providing critical care in the intensive care unit, new patients were still arriving in the emergency department. I was working with two women who had moderate injuries — and then I had to switch to a 29-year-old man in critical condition with a penetrating abdominal injury.”
“Unfortunately, one patient had already died from their injuries by the time they were brought to the hospital,” said Mariia Khvalbota, an MSF anesthetist. “Another patient died in the intensive care unit from injuries that were incompatible with life. There were many patients with complex injuries, including burns, internal organ damage, severe bleeding, and head and traumatic brain injuries. Eight children were urgently referred to hospitals in the city of Dnipro for specialized care.”
A war against civilians
Since the beginning of August, Russian forces have struck at least six shopping centers in other cities of Ukraine where MSF teams are working — Dnipro, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia — as well as scores of grocery and home goods stores.
“This feels increasingly like a war waged against civilians,” said Robin Meldrum, country director for MSF in Ukraine. “People are being forced to live with the constant fear that the next target could be their home, their neighborhood, or their local shops. In many cities in Ukraine, people spend their time making life-or-death decisions about going to shelter or not, leaving their house, going shopping, and commuting to and from work.”
On the morning of August 22, the district hospital in Snihurivka, Mykolaiv region, was reportedly hit by drones. The hospital has had a longstanding partnership with MSF, including for tuberculosis screening. Fortunately, no medical staff or patients were injured.
MSF continues to condemn Russian armed forces' strikes on civilian infrastructure and residential areas in Ukraine.
