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  • [explosion]

  • On Wednesday, Nov. 6, Russian pilots

  • bombed this underground hospital in Kafr Nabl, Syria,

  • putting it out of service.

  • It’s the second time the Russian Air Force bombed it

  • this year.

  • In May, Russian jets dropped four precision bombs

  • on the very same facility,

  • a previous Times investigation found.

  • Kafr Nabl Surgical is a well-known hospital

  • and in fact, the United Nations

  • is investigating an earlier attack on it.

  • Intentionally bombing health facilities is a war crime.

  • But that doesn’t seem to have deterred Russia.

  • We know its air force is responsible

  • because we obtained radio messages recorded

  • between Russian pilots and their ground control

  • in Syria.

  • We deciphered their code words,

  • including the phrase to confirm

  • an attack was launched, “Srabotal,” meaningworked it.”

  • We compared these audio recordings on Nov. 6

  • to video evidence of the attack,

  • the same way we investigated the May attack.

  • The evidence is clear.

  • A security camera system inside the hospital

  • filmed three strikes:

  • at 4:19, 4:25 and 4:31 p.m.

  • The radio system recorded Russian pilot 31

  • launching an attack at 4:21, 4:27 and 4:33 p.m.

  • Why is there a slight discrepancy in these times?

  • We confirmed the hospital cameras are

  • three minutes behind,

  • and look at the intervals between each strike:

  • They match up almost to the second, one pilot confirming

  • three attacks at the exact interval of strikes

  • on the hospital.

  • We also examined flight observations

  • for Nov. 6 logged by a network of spotters in Syria,

  • who track planes and listen into radio recordings.

  • They witnessed only Russian jets circling Kafr Nabl

  • at the time of the attacks at 4:23 and 4:29 p.m.

  • Russia had to know this location was a hospital.

  • Remember, a previous Times investigation

  • showed that Russia had attacked it on May 5.

  • The Defense Ministry spokesman acknowledged and responded

  • to that story.

  • The Russian ambassador to the United Nations

  • was shown a copy of that investigation

  • at a U.N. Security Council meeting.

  • And the hospital’s location is on a no-strike list provided

  • to Russia by the U.N.

  • But this latest attack shows that Russia

  • can continue to bomb health facilities in Syria

  • with impunity.

[explosion]

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