Three weeks in Mariupol; How Dr. Hanych kept his cancer patients alive amid Russia’s attack

The roof of the Radiation Therapy Department of the Mariupol Municipal Interdistrict Regional Oncologic Dispensary, the parts that aren’t caved in, looks like a sieve. 

The windows, too, have been blown out by a missile launched by the same Russian plane that somewhat belatedly marked March 8, the International Women’s Day, by dropping a bomb onto the courtyard of the Mariupol Maternity Hospital No. 3.

Someday, the pilot who dropped that bomb and released that missile onto what was obviously a massive hospital campus will face a war crimes tribunal. In that fantasy, the entire chain of command that ordered the attack will wear stripes and sit on a bench beside him.

If that day comes, Andrii Hanych, chief of the Radiation Oncology Department at the dispensary, will make an excellent witness for the prosecution. Hanych, 43, was inside that squat, shrapnel-pocked, single-story building, trying to keep 12 cancer patients alive amid falling bombs, whistling mortar shells, and wild volleys of fire unleashed by unhinged Russian tankists.

Cancer treatment in Mariupol became impossible as soon as the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24. Electricity went out within a couple of days. Gas was turned off soon thereafter.Sirens blasted on the first day, maybe two, but sirens don’t work in the absence of electricity. 

Besides, what use would anyone in Mariupol have for a siren? What can a siren accomplish in a city under attack? Help you realize that there is no safety?

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Read the full article at The Cancer Letter.