Radiotherapy under the falling bombs: a tale of two Ukrainian cancer centers
The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022 brought the largest humanitarian disaster since the World Word II to the heart of Europe. The Russian army has caused absolute destruction and chaos for everyone in its path, and Ukraine has lost tens of thousands of civilian lives, out of which many were innocent children.
Many more have been wounded, with approximately a third of the population of Ukraine being displaced: 7 million as refugees and 7.1 million as internally displaced people (1). The Russian army is obliterating Ukrainian cities, targeting critical civilian infrastructure with missiles, deliberately damaging and destroying hospitals and clinics in violation of the Article IV of the Geneva Convention (2). According to Ukraine's Minister of Health, Viktor Lyashko, during the first 100 days of war more than 600 healthcare facilities sustained damage, 105 of which were rendered beyond repair (3). Even if the war stopped today, the damage to the healthcare infrastructure will remain for years to come without world's continuing support.
