November 2019

I read the report published in English and Arabic by the New York Times on October 13, 2019, titled 12 Hours. 4 Syrian Hospitals Bombed. One Culprit: Russia, which includes an investigation into Russian attacks on four hospitals in northern Syria’s Idlib province:  the Nabd al Hayat Surgical Hospital, the Kafr Nabl Surgical Hospital, the Kafr Zita “cave Hospital” (specifically constructed underground to protect it from bombings) and Al-Amal Orthopedic Hospital.

The New York Times piece was based on multiple pieces of evidence:  a collection of Russian Air Force audio recordings obtained by The Times, social media posts from Syria on the day of the bombings, interviews with eyewitnesses, and records of humanitarian organizations supporting the four hospitals.  What is striking in the report is the analysis of the evidence and its use of multiple sources to confirm who perpetrated the bombing, as well as how plainly the evidence is laid out both in the written report and the accompanying video about the bombing of hospitals in northern Syria in May 2019.