Attacks on Ukraine’s healthcare facilities jumped nearly 20% in 2025, WHO reports
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, the World Health Organization has confirmed at least 2,881 attacks on healthcare in Ukraine. These attacks have targeted hospitals, clinics, ambulances, medical warehouses, and health workers.
In 2025, the number of attacks rose by nearly 20% compared to 2024, marking the highest yearly total since the war began. The violence puts pressure on Ukraine’s health system from two sides: direct strikes on medical facilities, and damage to civilian infrastructure such as power plants that keep hospitals running.
A WHO survey from December 2025 found that 59% of people living near the front lines rated their health as poor or very poor. That compares to 47% of people in areas farther from the fighting.
“After four years of war, health needs are increasing, but many people are unable to get the care they need, in part because hospitals and clinics are routinely attacked,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “WHO is working alongside Ukraine’s dedicated health workers to keep hospitals supplied with the means to stay warm, and the medicines people rely on the most. Ultimately, the best medicine is peace.”
In 2025, WHO support reached 1.9 million people across Ukraine through medical supplies, patient referrals, training, and direct care, with a focus on frontline and hard-to-reach communities.
“Four years of war has created a serious health crisis in Ukraine,” said Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “Mental health needs are staggering: 72% of people surveyed experienced anxiety or depression in the past year, yet only one in five sought help. Cardiovascular disease is surging, with one in four Ukrainians experiencing dangerously high blood pressure. And 8 out of 10 people report they can’t access the medicines they need. This is not abstract – it’s a heart patient who can’t find blood pressure medication, an amputee waiting months for a prosthetic, a teenager too afraid to leave the house. Ukraine’s health system needs our sustained support.”
Attacks on healthcare
Even as peace talks offered hope in 2025, attacks on healthcare grew worse. The third quarter of the year was the deadliest, with 184 attacks killing 12 people and injuring 110 health workers and patients.
Attacks on medical warehouses tripled in 2025 compared to the year before. These strikes disrupted supply chains that are essential for delivering care nationwide. Over the past four years, 233 health workers and patients have been killed and 930 injured in attacks on healthcare. Such attacks violate international humanitarian law.
Impact of destruction on essential health services
This winter has been the harshest since the war began. Repeated strikes on energy infrastructure have left millions without heat, electricity, or water. Many of Ukraine’s combined heat and power plants have been damaged or destroyed. In Kyiv alone, a January 2026 attack left nearly 6,000 buildings without heat in subzero temperatures, forcing an estimated 600,000 residents to flee the capital.
“What we are witnessing in Ukraine is a devastating cycle. A heating station is struck and thousands of homes lose heat within hours. At –20°C, water in the pipes freezes, bursts them, floods buildings with ice. Repairs are made, then the next attack starts it all over again. Behind every one of these system breakdowns are families, elderly residents, and health-care workers who must keep saving lives while their own homes are without heat, water, or electricity. The burnout after four years of war is immense – and the demand for health care has never been higher,” said Dr. Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative to Ukraine.
The damage doesn’t stop at the hospital door. New mothers discharged after childbirth, patients recovering from injuries or heart attacks, and those waiting for or recovering from cancer surgery return to homes without heating, electricity, or running water. Care that starts in a working hospital is undermined when patients recover in freezing, dark homes, turning medical progress into a daily fight for survival.
Growing health needs
War-related trauma injuries have driven up demand for surgery, blood products, infection control, prevention of antimicrobial resistance, mental health services, and rehabilitation.
Access to rehabilitation is severely limited. Only 4% of hospitals offer inpatient rehabilitation, and only 3% of facilities provide assistive technologies such as prosthetics and corrective devices.
Getting medicines remains one of the biggest barriers to health in Ukraine. Four out of five people report difficulties, mainly because of high prices (71%). In frontline areas, closed pharmacies, security risks, and lack of money make the problem even worse.
WHO’s work in Ukraine
In 2025, WHO focused on reaching the most vulnerable people in hard-to-reach areas. The work covered the full range of health needs:
– Crisis response: delivered trauma care and medical supplies to 954 facilities, supported over 1,200 medical evacuations, and ran outreach in 131 hard-to-reach locations.
– Recovery: kept primary health care, treatment for noncommunicable diseases, and mental health services going for displaced and conflict-affected populations.
– Rehabilitation: rebuilt damaged facilities, installed modular clinics, and trained over 2,500 health workers to restore and strengthen the battered health system.
To help keep essential health services running, WHO has provided 284 generators to health facilities across 23 regions of Ukraine. For 2026, WHO is asking for US$42 million in funding to continue its work in Ukraine and protect access to care for 700,000 people.
