Russian forces struck a non-operational medical facility in the centre of Sloviansk. The building is an architectural landmark dating back to the early 20th century.
According to UP Culture, this was reported by Vadym Liakh, head of the Sloviansk City Military Administration.
“This is what the old building of Sloviansk Hospital looks like after today’s strike. The building is an architectural landmark. Since the very beginning of the 20th century, lives have been saved here,” he wrote.
According to him, other buildings belonging to the medical facility, as well as private houses, were also damaged.
This is not the first time the building has been hit. On September 21, Russian forces had already struck the facility. The strike hit the surgical building of City Clinical Hospital No. 1, which also housed the anaesthesiology and intensive care department.
The building is a locally designated architectural landmark. Although the official list of architectural landmarks in Donetsk Oblast dates the building to 1901, research by Sloviansk local historian Ihor Hulko indicates that the new hospital opened in February 1909, the Slovianski Vidomosti publication reports.
The red-brick building stood out for its unique architectural style, featuring distinctive arched windows, columns and intricate decorative brickwork. It survived both World War I and World War II.
The hospital’s construction is associated with Avksentii Shnurkov, a Sloviansk entrepreneur and philanthropist of the early 20th century.
During the Soviet period and in the years that followed, the building was used as the surgical department of the city hospital.
In 2016, the facility was re-registered as the Sloviansk City Clinical Hospital. In 2018, it was transformed into a municipal non-profit enterprise.
The publication noted that some local history articles report that a military hospital operated in the old building during World War II. After the hospital was reorganised, the surgical department remained in the historic building.
