A Ukrainian influencer has been criticized for revealing the location of a field hospital treating wounded troops just hours before it was hit by a deadly Russian airstrike.
Anna Alkhim, who has 600,000 Instagram followers, had posted an appeal for help for the clinic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, saying wounded Ukrainian troops were present.
But hours after her post on Thursday, a Russian missile strike fell on the field hospital, killing four people and injuring 30 others, including two boys aged three and six.
The attack, which left the building in a pile of burning rubble, was condemned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a crime against humanity.
In her post, Alkhim said hospitals number 6 and 9 treated a large number of military personnel.
Ukrainian influencer Anna Alkhim (pictured) has been criticized for revealing the location of a field hospital treating wounded troops just hours before it was hit by a deadly Russian airstrike
Hours after her post on Thursday, a Russian missile strike fell on the hospital (pictured), killing four people and injuring 30 others, including two boys aged three and six
Pictured: The destroyed clinic was set on fire on May 26 after a Russian airstrike in Dnipro
She reportedly called on her followers to help the country’s defenders by taking clothes and food to collection points.
Local media has accused her of releasing information that allowed Russian troops to attack the clinic.
Alkhim then reportedly deleted her post, which contained information deemed sensitive about the Ukrainian army and hospital.
Ukraine has been under martial law since February 2022, and officials have repeatedly warned influencers and the media about posting sensitive information online that could be used by Russia.
After being criticized for sharing the information, the influencer defended herself by saying, “First of all, I made a publication yesterday, because half of Dnipro residents had it.”
She added, “And let me remind you that I am one of the few influencers who fills her stories and feed with publications about the war.
“I volunteered and supported Ukraine from the first days of the war.”
Alkhim continued, “But you don’t care because you have to post me on your stupid channels.”
Zelensky condemned the Russian attack as a “crime against humanity.” The Ukrainian president said a psychological clinic and a veterinary clinic had been affected, adding: “Only a bad state can fight against clinics. There can be no military purpose in this. It’s pure Russian terror.’
Regional governor Serhiy Lysak said a 69-year-old man had been killed as he passed the clinic and another man’s body had been recovered from the rubble.
Anna Alkhim (pictured), who has 600,000 Instagram followers, had posted an appeal for help for the clinic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, saying wounded Ukrainian troops were present
Alkhim had called on her followers to help the defenders of the country by taking clothes and food to collection points
Pictured: The destroyed clinic was set on fire on May 26 after a Russian airstrike in Dnipro
Police officers stand at the scene of a rocket attack on a hospital in Dnipro on May 26
Two more men were later found dead among the rubble, Lysak said, adding that 30 people were injured, including two children.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry called the attack a serious war crime under the Geneva Conventions, which state how soldiers and civilians in a war should be treated.
Moscow has rejected allegations that its soldiers committed war crimes and denies it deliberately targeted civilians, though it has bombed cities across Ukraine since its invasion 15 months ago.
Ukraine’s state emergency service said on Friday: “As a result of a rocket attack, a three-storey building of a medical institution in the city was partially destroyed, followed by fire, as well as a fire in an adjacent building.
“The fire in the medical facility has been extinguished in an area of 1,000 square meters.
‘In the ground floor building of the veterinary clinic, the fire area was 200 square meters. Rescue units have already dealt with it.
Two people died on the spot and another 23 were injured, including two children born in 2020 and 2017.
‘A total of 52 rescue workers and 18 pieces of equipment from the National Emergency Service have been called in to deal with the consequences.’
Ukrainian authorities have since said the attack killed four people.