On 4 June, just before midday, an ambulance in Kherson entered the grounds of Luchansky city clinical hospital when Liubov Martynenko, a midwife, heard a strange sound. The driver screamed, “It’s flying!” as a drone approached.
“It was so close, just a couple of metres away, a flying box with a black eye,” Martynenko told the Guardian this week. The driver reversed sharply, but the drone struck the side of the ambulance and exploded. Martynenko initially thought the driver had been killed, but both survived with minor shrapnel wounds and concussion.
Ambulance Clearly Marked, Yet Targeted
The vehicle, donated by Italy, was marked “ambulanza” and bore a red cross on the roof – the internationally recognised symbol of protection. Martynenko wore a red flak jacket common among frontline medics. “If it weren’t for the driver’s quick reactions, the drone would have hit the front of the vehicle and we probably would have died,” she said. “The Russian operators attacked precisely on the hospital grounds – and it’s not the first time it has been hit, either.”
This incident is part of a growing pattern of attacks on medical workers and health infrastructure in conflict zones. According to the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, such attacks have more than doubled globally since 2021, peaking in 2024 with over 2,500 documented incidents across 33 countries.
International Law Ignored
Under the first Geneva convention of 1864, hospitals, healthcare workers and wounded people are afforded special protection. A UN Security Council resolution 10 years ago reaffirmed this. Yet these protections are steadily eroded. “If you can’t even protect hospitals, the first line of humanitarian protections, then it will lead to the breakdown of all international law,” said Rohini Haar, an emergency doctor who lectures on human rights at the University of California, Berkeley. “I believe we are seeing that.”
Most attacks are now carried out by state actors who invoke “dual-use” claims – arguing hospitals are used for military purposes – often without public evidence. Lawyers say the dual-use loophole does not legitimise attacks, as international law requires verification of a military objective, proportionality, and advance evacuation warnings.
Lack of Enforcement
There has never been a standalone conviction for a healthcare attack in international courts; such charges appear only as part of broader war crimes cases, like those against Bosnian Serb commanders over the siege of Sarajevo. This fits a pattern of impunity for war crimes.
The cost for civilians is devastating: preventable deaths from lack of emergency care, disruptions to routine care, and fear of visiting hospitals. Trained staff killed can have long-term impacts. Liz Harding of Médecins Sans Frontières said: “Humanitarians and hospitals now almost have to justify why we shouldn’t be targeted rather than those launching the attacks having to explain themselves.”
After two weeks off, Martynenko is back collecting meals for the maternity ward twice daily, always in fear. CCTV footage shows the ambulance struck little more than a metre from a previous explosion crater. “I am scared to go to work after the attack, especially when I hear any kind of buzzing noise,” she said. “I have to do my job though.”
