Historic 20th-century architectural landmark destroyed in Russian strike on Sloviansk
Russian forces have struck a disused hospital in the centre of the city of Sloviansk. The building is an architectural landmark dating back to the early 20th century.
Source: Vadym Liakh, Head of the Sloviansk City Military Administration; Slovianski Vidomosti newspaper
Quote: "This is what the old building of the Sloviansk hospital looks like after today's strike. The building is an architectural monument. People's lives have been saved here since the very beginning of the 20th century."
Details: Liakh said that other hospital buildings and houses had also been damaged.
This is not the first time the building has been attacked. It was hit by Russian forces on 21 September. The strike hit the surgery building of City Clinical Hospital No. 1, which also housed the anaesthesiology and intensive care unit.
The building is listed as an architectural monument of local significance. Although the building is dated 1901 in the official list of notable buildings of Donetsk Oblast, local historian Ihor Hulko said research shows the new hospital was opened in February 1909, the Slovianski Vidomosti newspaper reports.
The red-brick structure was distinguished by a unique architectural style with distinctive arched windows, columns and detailed decorative brickwork. The building survived the First and Second World Wars.
The hospital's construction is associated with the name of Avksentii Shnurkov, a Sloviansk businessman and philanthropist of the early 20th century.
During the Soviet and later periods, the building was used as the surgery department of the city hospital.
In 2016, it became the Sloviansk City Clinical Hospital, and in 2018, it was transformed into a municipal non-profit facility.
Slovianski Vidomosti noted that some local history publications say the old building was used as a military hospital during the Second World War, and that the surgery department remained in the old building after the hospital was reorganised.
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