Novoaydar
© SputnikAftermath of the Ukrainian missile strike on a hospital in the city of Novoaydar on January 28, 2023
At least 14 people have been killed and 24 injured after Ukrainian missiles struck a hospital in the city of Novoaydar in the early hours of Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The medical facility in the city, which is located dozens of kilometers away from the frontlines in the central part of the Lugansk People's Republic, treated both local residents and soldiers, the ministry noted. It added that both patients and medical personnel were among the victims.

"A deliberate missile strike on a known civilian healthcare facility is an absolutely grave war crime of the Kiev regime," the MOD stated in a Telegram post, vowing to bring all those involved in planning and executing the attack to justice.

According to the statement, a US-made HIMARS multiple rocket launcher was used in the strike. Following the attack, Moscow's first deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, accused Washington of being directly involved in the incident.

Polyansky called the strike "yet another heinous crime," highlighting that 14 civilians were killed in the hospital with missiles provided by the US. He also pointed out that Washington provided the Ukrainian military with intelligence data. "This makes the US directly complicit," he said, adding that "the US taxpayers should know how their money is spent."

Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukrainian forces of targeting civilian infrastructure, including with weapons supplied by the West. In early January, six people were killed and 37 injured in a strike on the city of Vasilyevka in Russia's Zaporozhye Region. Prior to that, a hospital was destroyed in the city of Tokmak in the same region. In both cases, US-made HIMARS systems were used, the local authorities said at the time.

Moscow accuses Kiev of 'war crime' in Donbass

Kiev and its Western backers bear responsibility for the deadly destruction of a civilian hospital in Donbass, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

According to the military, the facility was treating local residents, as well as Russian soldiers.

"The deliberate shelling of functioning civilian medical facilities and the purposeful killing of civilians are grave war crimes committed by the Kiev regime and its Western handlers," the ministry said in a statement.

"The lack of reaction from the US and other NATO countries ... once again serves as proof of their direct involvement in the conflict and the culpability for the crimes."

The ministry added that it has been thoroughly documenting attacks on civilians. "The criminal acts ... will not be left unpunished," it said.

According to the 1949 Geneva Convention, warring parties cannot attack civilian hospitals under any circumstances.

Novoaydar is dozens of kilometers away from the frontline in Russia's Lugansk People's Republic (LPR). Local officials posted a video of the hospital building shortly after the attack.


The region, along with the LPR and two other former Ukrainian territories, joined Russia following referendums in September of last year.