Russia claims to have targeted a children’s hospital with 36 dead in a missile attack

At least 36 civilians were killed in the heaviest wave of airstrikes in months when Russia launched a missile on Monday during the daytime hours of the main children’s hospital in Kyiv and rained missiles down on other cities across the country.

Following the unusual daytime aerial attack, parents carrying infants sobbed and wandered about the hospital’s courtyard. Hundreds of citizens of Kyiv were assisting in the debris cleanup after windows had been broken and panels torn off.

“That was frightful. I was attempting to hide myself, but I couldn’t breathe (my baby). According to Svitlana Kravchenko, 33, “I was attempting to cover him with this cloth so that he could breathe.”

Tuesday was declared a day of mourning by the government in remembrance of one of the bloodiest airstrikes of the conflict, which it claimed showed how urgently Ukraine needed an upgrade from its Western partners for its air defenses.

Of the 38 missiles, 30 were shot down by air defenses, according to the air force. The interior minister reported that in Kyiv, the central cities of Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro, as well as two eastern cities, fifty civilian buildings—including residential homes, a business center, and two medical facilities—were damaged.

Reuters was able to obtain an online video depicting a missile dropping from the skies near the children’s hospital, which was followed by a massive explosion. Observable landmarks allowed us to confirm the video’s location.

According to the Ukrainian Security Service, the missile was a Kh-101 cruise missile.

According to officials, the primary missile salvo and second strike that occurred two hours later in Kyiv caused the deaths of twenty-two persons, including two children, and injured eighty-two others.

According to local officials, 64 people were injured and 11 confirmed deaths have occurred in the Dnipropetrovsk region. According to the governor, missiles struck an industrial site in the eastern town of Pokrovsk, killing three persons.

Ukraine will retaliate, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who also urged Kyiv’s Western partners to respond firmly to the strike.

“We will definitely respond to Russia with force, and we will exact revenge on these individuals. Can our partners reply, is the question we pose to them? Zelenskiy, who is on a visitation to Poland, stated at a joint press conference with Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland.

According to diplomats, Britain, France, Ecuador, Slovenia, and the United States have requested that the United Nations Security Council meet on Tuesday.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that its forces had attacked targets in the defense industry and aircraft bases in Ukraine.

Thousands of civilians have been murdered by Moscow’s attacks since it began its invasion in February 2022, despite Moscow’s repeated denials that it targets civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court was consulted by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, who also stated that his office will be providing the ICC with evidence.

COMMITMENTS TO SECURITY

The attack happened the day before NATO leaders were supposed to start a three-day conference, which Zelenskiy is anticipated to attend and which would center on the conflict in Ukraine.

Ambassador Bridget Brink of the United States to Ukraine wrote on X that “leaders will make significant security commitments to Ukraine this week” in response to the “callous aggression – a total disregard for human life, jeopardizing European & Transatlantic security.”

In order to assist defend its towns and infrastructure from frequent Russian aircraft attacks, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that his country still required adequate air defenses and he wanted Kyiv’s partners to send more systems as soon as possible.

According to Colonel Yuri Ignat, a spokesperson of the Air Force, the challenge of fending off Russian attacks increased as Moscow’s forces continued to refine their bombing strategies.

Ignat posted on Facebook, “Radar and thermal traps are just two of the extra tools that enemy missiles carry.”

He claimed that during Monday’s attacks, the missiles flew at incredibly low heights.
Three electrical substations and networks in Kiev have sustained damage, according to DTEK, the biggest private power provider.

Since targeted Russian airstrikes started in March, the power grid has already suffered enough damage that blackouts have become commonplace.

According to Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kiev, the attack was one of the biggest of the war, causing damage in seven different districts of the city.

The largest and best-equipped children’s hospital in the nation was evacuated and its five sections were destroyed, according to the health minister. The children were taken to other facilities.