Ukraine needs $17B to restore medical infrastructure destroyed by Russia – Liashko

Ukraine needs more than $17 billion to restore its medical infrastructure destroyed by Russian attacks.

Ukraine’s Minister of Health Viktor Liashko said this at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"More than 1,600 health facilities have been destroyed in Ukraine, and the cost needed to restore them has already exceeded $17 billion. Speaking about the time required to restore health facilities and the challenges posed by the current circumstances, we realize that we will need help and support. Because the world has never seen such destruction and violations of the Geneva Convention," said Liashko.

At the same time, he emphasized that other crises caused by Russian aggression have a direct impact on the healthcare system. First, the destruction of energy facilities by the Russian aggressor makes it impossible to provide the necessary power, heat and water supply to hospitals.

"These are the conditions into which the Russian terrorist is driving our hospitals. Speaking about how to respond to such challenges - we have not stopped our reform. We continued it during the war, and it is already yielding results. The minimum number of hospitals required in the current difficult time can be provided with heat, water, electricity, and bomb shelters, while also ensuring the delivery of critical medical care,” Liashko said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Ukraine Recovery Conference is taking place in Berlin. On the first day of the conference, five agreements were signed in the healthcare sector, including a framework agreement between the governments of Ukraine and France on official support for the project to build modular hospitals in Ukraine.

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