Ukraine reports Russian missile attacks hits childrens hospital, Kills at least 41
Sergiy Lysak, the head of the Dnipro region, said one person died and six sustained injuries in Dnipro city, noting that high-rise buildings and businesses were targeted.
“One of the children’s hospitals in Kyiv was attacked during a wave of Russian missile Attacks towards various Ukrainian cities. Southern Ukraine’s Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital, the biggest children’s medical center in Ukraine, was heavily impacted by the explosion; two people died. Any attack on civilians is an act against humanity, lamented Andriy Yermak, the Chief of Staff of President Volodymyr Zelensky. He said 36 people were killed and 140 seriously injured.
The Russian authorities declined the accusations, stating that the hospital was damaged by debris from a Ukrainian air defence missile; at the same time, the Ukrainian side stated that the debris belongs to a Russian cruise missile.”
“One part of the hospital was destroyed, and there was a fire in another. It’s really very damaged—maybe 60–70% of the hospital,” said Dr. Lesia Lysytsia, a physician at the hospital, who described the moment the missile struck to the BBC, saying it was “like in a film” with a “big light followed by an awful sound.”
One could see images of young children, some of them with IV drips pulled out on the wards, probably because the hospital had been evacuated from the scene of the destruction. Kyiv’s Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said that out of two victims at the hospital, one was a doctor and both were adults. He also said that the rescuers had a feeling that there could be other people still trapped in the debris. Ohmatdyt is one of the leading hospitals in Ukraine that focuses on dealing with cancer and transplantation services.
Dr. Lysytsia stated, “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.”
Hospital officials informed Ukrainian TV that around 20 children were in the ward that was struck. In response to the attack, Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina wore a black ribbon in tribute when she competed in the round of 16 at Wimbledon on Monday afternoon.
Mayor Klitschko accused Russia of attempting to commit “genocide against the population of Ukraine.” He further said, “Right now, the whole world can see how Russian missiles and Kamikaze drones killed Ukrainian citizens in our peaceful city.”
The mayor also stated that a different maternity hospital in Kyiv’s Dniprovsky district had suffered partial destruction from falling debris, resulting in the deaths of seven people.
Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital Struck in Russian Missile Attacks
President Zelensky posted on social media that buildings and infrastructure in cities such as Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk were targeted by “over 40 missiles of various types.” He urged for a more robust Western reaction “to the blow that Russia has once again delivered on our population, on our land, and on our children.”.
Sergiy Lysak, the head of the Dnipro region, said one person died and six sustained injuries in Dnipro city, noting that high-rise buildings and businesses were targeted. In the eastern Donetsk region, three people died in Pokrovsk amid Russia’s continuous advances to actively capture several villages. These attacks occurred during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day state visit to Moscow, during which he is also planning to meet President Vladimir Putin.
The Security Service of Ukraine has released photographs showing what it claims are remnants of a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile retrieved from the scene. In response to the assaults, Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, called on the nation’s allies to swiftly bolster its air defense capabilities. He said, “Our defense capabilities are still insufficient… We need more air defense systems.”
Ukraine’s allies have condemned the attack on Ohmatdyt hospital; EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described Moscow as deliberately attacking Ukrainian civilians. The new UK Foreign Secretary is David Lammy, who said, “We must hold those responsible for Putin’s illegal war to account.”.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the strikes as strongly as possible through his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, stating that the Secretary-General is deeply shocked by the attack, particularly the bombing of a children’s hospital and another medical facility. He said, “Directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects is prohibited by international humanitarian law, and any such attacks are unacceptable and must end immediately.”
Global Outcry and Calls for Action
A recent report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine revealed that more civilians have been dying for the past few months because of Russia’s intensified air strikes. As another report stressed, May witnessed the highest number of civilian deaths in a month in nearly a year.
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