Ukraine's health minister accused the Russian authorities of committing a crime against humanity by blocking access to affordable medicines in areas of Ukraine that their forces have occupied since the beginning of the invasion five and a half months ago, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.

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In an AP interview, Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said Russian authorities have repeatedly blocked attempts to provide state-subsidized medicine to people in occupied towns and villages.

"During the entire six months of the war, Russia has not allowed the opening of appropriate humanitarian corridors so that we can provide our own medicines to the patients who need them," Lyashko said last night at the Ministry of Health in Kyiv.

"We believe that these actions are taken by Russia deliberately and we consider them to be crimes against humanity and war crimes that will be documented and recognized," the minister added.

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The Ukrainian government has a program to provide medicines to cancer patients and people with chronic diseases.

The destruction of hospitals and infrastructure, as well as the internal displacement of an estimated 7 million people, have also prevented other types of treatment from being provided, according to UN and Ukrainian officials.

The war in Ukraine caused severe disruptions in the work of the state health system, which was in the process of significant reform, notes AP.

The World Health Organization said it had reported 455 attacks on hospitals and other health facilities as of Aug. 11, killing 86 and injuring 105.

But Lyashko said that the secondary effects of these attacks are significantly more severe.

"When the roads and bridges in the areas now under the control of Ukrainian forces are damaged, it is difficult to get someone who has had a heart attack or a stroke to the hospital," he said.

"Sometimes we don't get there in time, the ambulance can't get there in time. That's why the war causes many more victims (than those killed in the fighting and attacks). Their number cannot be calculated," Lyashko added.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

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