April 2024- Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly condemns the missile attack on thier office in Pokrovsk, Donetsk oblast (region), Ukraine, on 5 April, at approximately 3:15 am. The building was destroyed and five people were injured, including MSF’s security staff. As a result, MSF suspended medical humanitarian activities in Donetsk oblast temporarily, except supporting emergency care and ambulance referral services.

“This act of violence against a humanitarian organisation cannot be brushed off as just another casualty of war,” says Vincenzo Porpiglia, emergency coordinator for MSF in Ukraine. “Attacks on any facility where humanitarian staff work not only jeopardize the safety of our staff, but also hinder the provision of lifesaving care to those in need.”

MSF’s security staff, Eduard Marchenko, who was inside the office when the attack occurred, was injured.

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“I was in the living room when the blast lifted me up and threw me like a wave to the ground,” says Marchenko.

As a result of the blast, Marchenko has a contusion and a skull injury. He has received treatment and is recovering. Four people who were near the building at the time of the missile attack also sustained injuries, including a 14-year-old boy. They received medical care and did not need hospitalisation.