WHO says key warehouse destroyed by attack in Ukraine

Geneva (AFP) – The World Health Organization said Friday that one of its main warehouses in Ukraine had been destroyed in air attack -- the third such incident in three months.

The WHO warned that it was part of a wider pattern of attacks on humanitarian facilities in Ukraine.

"In the past three months, three warehouses used by WHO in different regions of Ukraine have been destroyed by airstrikes, ruining essential medical supplies intended for frontline and hard-to-reach areas," the WHO's Europe branch said in a statement.

Early on Thursday, "an air attack in Kyiv region destroyed one of WHO's main warehouses storing humanitarian medical supplies.

"Access to the site remains restricted due to heavy smoke and safety concerns, while assessments of possible damage and stock losses are ongoing. No WHO personnel were affected."

The WHO said this came after an attack two weeks ago in Dnipro which completely destroyed one of its humanitarian warehouses. That resulted in the loss of half of the medical supplies and equipment intended to support an estimated 225,000 people.

And another warehouse used by WHO in the Kyiv region was damaged during a large-scale wave of attacks on the capital and the wider region in July, it added.

"In my understanding, all warehouses, all UN locations, all WHO locations are deconflicted," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.

That means their whereabouts are clearly communicated to all sides in an armed conflict.

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