Following a string of missile strikes by Russia on Ukrainian cities, a children’s hospital in Kyiv was damaged.
The Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital, the largest pediatric institution in Ukraine, suffered significant damage during the explosion, resulting in the deaths of two individuals. The early-morning bombing claimed the lives of thirty-one persons nationwide, according to authorities.
Hospital physician Lesia Lysytsia described to the BBC how the missile struck—”like in a film” with a “big light, then an awful sound”
“There was a fire in one area of the hospital and destruction in another. Perhaps sixty to seventy percent of the hospital has been destroyed, she added.
Images taken at the site showed small children waiting outside the hospital during its evacuation, some of them with IV drips.
The mayor of Kiev, Vitaliy Klitschko, stated that one of the two people who passed away at the hospital was a doctor. Rescuers worried additional individuals were buried under the rubble, he continued.
Russia claims that components of a Ukrainian air defense missile struck the hospital, although it has denied ever aiming a missile at there. However, Ukraine claims to have discovered Russian cruise missile debris.
Ohmatdyt is a large hospital that does organ transplants and cancer treatments.
“Now we are in the process of evacuating patients to the nearest hospital.. [but] many patients are intubated and on ventilators and cannot have contact with other patients or go outside,” stated Dr. Lysytsia.
In the affected ward, around twenty youngsters were receiving treatment, hospital authorities informed Ukrainian TV.
Tennis star Elina Svitolina, a Ukrainian, represented her country and the strike by donning a black ribbon during her round-of-16 match at Wimbledon on Monday afternoon.
Russian attempts to carry out a “genocide of [the] population in Ukraine,” according to Mayor Klitschko.
“The entire world can currently see how Ukrainian residents were slaughtered in our quiet city by Russian missiles and Kamikaze drones.
The mayor continued by saying that seven people had died when falling debris partially demolished a different maternity facility in Kyiv’s Dniprovsky neighborhood.
“More than 40 missiles of different types” have struck buildings and infrastructure in towns like Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk, according to Mr. Zelensky’s social media posts.
He demanded that the West respond “to the blow that Russia has once again delivered on our population, on our land, on our children” with greater vigor.
Sergiy Lysak, the chairman of Dnipro region, reported that six people were hurt and one person died in Dnipro city. He said that there had been damage to a company and a high-rise building.
In Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donetsk region, three individuals lost their lives. In recent weeks, Russian soldiers have gained control of many settlements in the area.
While on a two-day state visit in Moscow, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin. This coincides with the Russian bombing.
Russia, which has denied aiming its missiles at civilian structures, claimed that a Ukrainian air defense missile was to blame for the harm done to the children’s hospital.
Nonetheless, the Ukrainian Security Service has released images of what it claims to be Russian Kh-101 cruise missile parts that were found at the scene.
In response to the assaults, Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov urged the nation’s partners to assist in swiftly bolstering its air defenses.
“We still lack adequate defense capabilities… More air defense systems are required,” he declared.
Ukraine’s allies denounced the strike on the Ohmatdyt hospital, accusing Russia of “ruthlessly targeting Ukrainian civilians” according to EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell.
David Lammy, the recently appointed Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, stated that “we must hold those responsible for Putin’s illegal war to account”.
According to the UN human rights monitoring team in Ukraine, civilian deaths have increased recently as a result of Russia’s resumption of its air assault. May was the bloodiest month for civilian deaths in over a year, according to a new assessment.
