Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by whitelisting our website.

Ministers accuse Putin of ‘criminal’ attacks on 31 hospitals in Ukraine

Ministers accuse Putin of 'criminal' attacks on 31 hospitals in Ukraine 2

Ministers accuse Putin of ‘criminal’ attacks on 31 hospitals in Ukraine and warns Nato will go to war if ‘one Russian toecap’ steps into its territory – as Justice Secretary heads for The Hague

Ministers today accused Vladimir Putin of ‘criminal’ attacks on 31 hospitals in Ukraine and warned Nato will go to war if ‘one Russian toecap’ steps into its territory.

Sajid Javid said the strikes logged against health facilities are ‘war crimes’, stressing that Justice Secretary Dominic Raab will be in The Hague later offering to help build cases.    

He also delivered a stark message to Moscow in the wake of a missile assault on a Ukrainian military training camp just a few miles from the Polish border.

The Health Secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We’ve made it very clear to the Russians even before the start of this conflict.

‘Even if a single Russian toecap steps into Nato territory, then it will be considered an act of war.’

Sajid Javid delivered a stark message to Moscow in the wake of a missile assault on a Ukrainian military training camp just a few miles from the Polish border (pictured)

Sajid Javid delivered a stark message to Moscow in the wake of a missile assault on a Ukrainian military training camp just a few miles from the Polish border (pictured)

Mariana Vishegirskaya stands outside a maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol last week. She survived and later gave birth to a girl

Mariana Vishegirskaya stands outside a maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol last week. She survived and later gave birth to a girl

Dominic Raab

Sajid Javid

Sajid Javid (right) said the strikes logged against health facilities are ‘war crimes’, stressing that Justice Secretary Dominic Raab (left) will be in The Hague later offering to help build cases

Mr Raab, a former lawyer who has prosecuted war crimes, has previously said that the UK has acquired intelligence during past investigations which would prove ‘absolutely critical’ to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC has already started an investigation that could target senior officials believed to be responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide following Russian’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Mr Javid said the deputy PM will ‘to offer Britain’s help in helping to gather the evidence’ of potential war crimes committed in Ukraine.

In a round of interviews, Mr Javid condemned Russia in the wake of a strike on a maternity hospital last week. 

Told that a mother and baby pictured in the wreckage had later died, Mr Javid said: ‘The most recent information I have from the World Health Organisation is they now have documented evidence of at least 31 such attacks of health facilities, hospitals, including shelling.

‘A couple of days ago of a cancer hospital, as well. So these are war crimes.’

Putin's invasion of Ukraine - which he had anticipated would last only a few days with limited casualties - is now nearing its third week with heavy losses on both sides, as Moscow gives the first signs it could be willing to end the fighting by saying there has been 'substantial progress' in peace talks

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – which he had anticipated would last only a few days with limited casualties – is now nearing its third week with heavy losses on both sides, as Moscow gives the first signs it could be willing to end the fighting by saying there has been ‘substantial progress’ in peace talks

The International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, just a few miles from the Ukraine border with Poland, was hit over the weekend.

It served as a crucial hub for cooperation between Ukraine and the Nato countries supporting it in its defence against Moscow’s grinding assault. 

More than 30 Russian cruise missiles targeted the sprawling facility, which has long been used to train Ukrainian military personnel, often with instructors from the US and other countries in the western alliance.

The attack, believed to have killed Western volunteers, has been seen by analysts as a move to deter any foreigners from fighting to defend Ukraine.

An attack so close to the border was heavy with symbolism in a conflict that has revived old Cold War rivalries that gave birth to Nato.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned the US ‘will work with our allies to defend every inch of NATO territory and that means every inch’.

Mr Zelensky again called for Nato to impose a no-fly zone, something the alliance has so far flatly refused to do, warning that otherwise ‘it is only a matter of time before Russian missiles fall on your territory’. 

Advertisement

About The Author