"Several explosions took place in close proximity to our staff over the course of about 10 minutes,” says Michel-Olivier Lacharité, Doctors Without Borders head of mission in Ukraine, currently based in Odesa. “As they were leaving the area, the Doctors Without Borders team saw injured people and at least one dead body. However, we are not in a position to give exact numbers of dead and injured. Fortunately our staff were able to take cover and were not hurt in the explosions, although the windows of their vehicle, parked outside the hospital entrance, were blown out by the blasts.”
The team reported that the regional paediatric hospital, about 300 metres away, was also hit. No large crater was visible. In the wake of the explosions, they saw numerous small holes in the ground, scattered over a large area. These elements could be consistent with the use of cluster bombs.
The neighbourhood where the oncology hospital is located is a residential area in the east of the port city, where many medical facilities are concentrated.
At the time of the airstrikes by Russian forces, the Doctors Without Borders team was preparing to launch new activities in support of people displaced by the war, in partnership with a local organisation.
