GENEVA, January 31. /TASS/. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) plans to clarify the circumstances of the January 28 shelling attack on a hospital in Novoaidar that left 14 dead and 24 wounded, UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Liz Throssell told TASS on Tuesday.
She noted that according to OHCHR data, the hospital "was struck by rockets reportedly fired by the Ukrainian armed forces." "We are following up on the incident to further clarify the circumstances of the attack, as well as the number and status of casualties," she said.
She explained that her colleagues in Ukraine need time "to verify information about alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law" in Russian-controlled areas, "in particular due to a lack of access to these areas."
"As a general point, we recall that attacks that deliberately target medical facilities, whether civilian or military - provided they have not lost their protection due to being used outside their humanitarian function to commit acts harmful to the enemy - amount to a violation of international humanitarian law," Throssell stressed.
The International Committee of the Red Cross also told TASS that attacks on medical facilities are banned and hospital patients, medical personnel, civilian, medical and humanitarian facilities enjoy protection under the Geneva Conventions.
The Russian defense ministry said earlier that on the morning of January 28, Ukrainian troops delivered a strike from a US HIMARS multiple rocket launcher on a hospital in Novoaidar, killing 14 and wounding 24 people. There were both civilians and the military among its casualties.