Parents could be seen carrying their children out of Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital after the attack forced it to close, ITV News’ Neil Connery Reports
At least three people have been killed and dozens injured at a Kyiv children’s hospital after Russian missiles struck across Ukraine on Monday.
The series of attacks across the country killed at least 37 people, with that figure expected to rise, as rescuers search through the rubble. More than 170 people have been injured.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 16 people, seven of them children, were injured, at the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital.
Ukraine officials also said three people have been killed as a result of the strike on the hospital, but that figure could rise further. They did not reveal if the dead were children.
The facility is Ukraine’s largest children’s medical centre and is vital to treating the sickest children from across the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia targeted five cities, with more than 40 missiles of different types hitting apartment buildings and public infrastructure.
The country’s air force said 30 missiles were intercepted.
Zelenskyy shared a video on X showing the destruction at the hospital.
He said: “Okhmatdyt has been saving and restoring the health of thousands of children.
“Now that the hospital has been damaged by a Russian strike, there are people under the rubble, and the exact number of casualties is still unknown.
“Right now, everyone is helping to clear the rubble – doctors and ordinary people.
“Russia cannot claim ignorance of where its missiles are flying and must be held fully accountable for all its crimes.”
A two-story building that made up part of the hospital was partly destroyed. On the hospital’s main ten-storey building, windows and doors were blown out and walls were blackened.
The intensive care unit, operating theatres and oncology departments were all damaged, officials said.
The attack forced the hospital to shut down and evacuate with mothers seen carrying their children away on their backs.
Marina Ploskonos’ four-year-old son had surgery for cervical spine tuberculosis last Friday, saying “my child is terrified”.
“This shouldn’t be happening, it’s a children’s hospital,” she said.
Ukraine’s Security Service said it found wreckage from a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile at the site and had opened criminal proceedings on war crime charges.
The Kh-101 is an air-launched missile that flies low to avoid detection by radar systems.
Ukraine said it shot down 11 of 13 Kh-101 missiles launched by Russia on Monday.
The Ukrainian airforce also said the missiles used included Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, one of the most advanced Russian weapons.
The Kinzhal flies at ten times the speed of sound, making it hard to intercept.
In the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, ten people were killed and 47 injured in what the head of city administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said was a massive missile attack.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermal, said the attack occurred at a time when many people were in the city’s streets.
Explosions were also reported by local officials in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted Ukrainian defence plants and military air bases and were successful.
It denied aiming at any civilian facilities and claimed without offering evidence that pictures from Kyiv indicated the damage was caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile.
The attack came on the eve of a three-day NATO summit in Washington, which will look at how to reassure Ukraine of the alliance’s unwavering support and offer Ukrainians hope that their country can come through Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.
Czech President Petr Pavel said the hospital attack was “inexcusable” and that he expected at the NATO summit to see a consensus that Russia was “the biggest threat for which we must be thoroughly prepared”.
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