Pregnant women and thousands of other hospital patients in Ukraine could be in danger as the Russian invasion cuts off supplies of vital oxygen tanks

A staff member tends to a newborn in the bomb shelter of a maternity hospital on March 2 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

• Ukrainian hospitals could soon run out of oxygen, putting lives at risk, the WHO has warned.
• Trucks are unable to transport oxygen from plants to hospitals across the country, it said.
• Oxygen is crucial to treat people who are sick from trauma, pregnancy complications, and infections.

Hospitals in Ukraine could soon run out of oxygen, putting thousands of lives at risk, the World Health Organization (WHO)  has warned.

"The oxygen supply situation is nearing a very dangerous point in Ukraine," Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general and Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe said in a joint statement Sunday.

"The majority of hospitals could exhaust their oxygen reserves within the next 24 hours. Some have already run out," they said. 

Oxygen is crucial to treat people who are sick from pregnancy complications, trauma and infections, including COVID-19. 

Russia invaded Ukraine Thursday and several cities have come under attack. The UN warned Saturday that increasing numbers of casualties, coupled with the spread of COVID-19 as more Ukrainians got displaced, would put "additional pressure on the country's already-stretched health system." 

More than 160,000 people have been internally displaced and more than 116,000 have fled to neighboring countries, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report, citing the UN refugee agency.

Tedros and Kluge said that trucks were unable to transport oxygen supplies to hospitals across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv. There were also shortages of zeolite, a chemical used to create safe medical oxygen, they said.

Hospitals services were already jeopardized by power shortages and ambulances carrying patients were at risk of getting caught in the crossfire, the WHO officials added.

The WHO is now looking to increase Ukraine's oxygen supply from other countries, Tedros and Kluge said.

"It is imperative to ensure that lifesaving medical supplies – including oxygen –  reach those who need them," they said.

Insider's live blog of the invasion is covering developments as they happen. 

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