Ukrainians observe a day of mourning after a series of Russian missile attacks killed dozens of civilians on Monday and the search continues for survivors at a destroyed children’s hospital.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 38 civilians, including four children, had been killed and 190 people injured in the wave of attacks.
One facility hit was the main pediatric hospital in the capital, Kiev, where debris from the explosion fell on patients undergoing open-heart surgery. The roof of the toxicology department at Okhmatdyt hospital, where children undergo dialysis, also collapsed, Ukrainian authorities said, with cancer patients taken to the streets to escape the carnage.
At least two workers at Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital were killed and 16 people were injured, including seven children, as the search for those trapped under the rubble continued on Tuesday.
Russia denied attacking the hospital, attributing the damage to fragments from a Ukrainian air defense missile. On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “I insist, we do not conduct strikes against civilian targets.”
Ukrainian authorities, however, said they found parts of a Russian cruise missile at the site.
The attack on the children’s hospital was likely caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile, the head of the United Nations human rights monitoring mission said on Tuesday, citing his own analysis.
“Analysis of video footage and an on-site assessment indicate a high probability that the children’s hospital suffered a direct hit rather than damage from an intercepted weapons system,” said Danielle Bell, chief of UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission. in Ukraine.
But Bell said his team, which visited the site on Monday, was unable to make a final decision.
“Among the victims were the sickest children in Ukraine,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, who is scheduled to speak at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva later on Tuesday.
“This is abhorrent and I implore those with influence to do everything in their power to ensure these attacks stop immediately,” he said.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, speaking outside the destroyed hospital, said details were still being assessed and that more information about the injured would be released soon.
“We continue our work to increase the protection of our cities and communities against Russian terror. There will be decisions. The world has the strength to do this,” Zelenskyy posted on X.
Ukraine retaliated with a wave of attacks on Tuesday morning, deploying dozens of drones in several border regions.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 38 of the drones, and falling debris set fire to a power substation and an oil depot.
One man died, two people were injured and several houses were damaged in the Belgorod region, on the border with Ukraine, according to the governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Russian authorities rarely reveal the full extent of the damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks.
‘Reminder of Russia’s brutality’
Zelenskyy, who has long pressed Ukraine’s allies for more air defenses, said Russia’s latest attack showed “that it is necessary to take strong measures that do not leave any security deficit.”
The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss the latest attacks later on Tuesday, when a three-day NATO summit also begins in Washington, DC, and will be attended by the leaders of the 32-member military alliance, along with Zelenskyy.
The war in Ukraine, which now drags on into its 29th month, is expected to be high on the agenda, with Zelenskyy ready to use the occasion to push even harder for more military assistance.
The rescue operation following yesterday’s Russian missile attack continues.
So far, 38 people have been killed, including four children. My condolences to all family and friends affected by this tragedy.
190 people were injured and are receiving assistance. There… pic.twitter.com/T7kfLkggKx
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 9, 2024
US President Joe Biden, who is hosting the summit in the midst of a turbulent re-election campaign, described the latest missile barrage against Ukraine as “a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality” and said NATO would unveil new measures this year. week to reinforce Ukraine’s defenses.
The United States is considering donating another Patriot air defense battery to Ukraine, which considers it particularly valuable because it is one of the only systems capable of shooting down Russia’s most advanced missiles.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it would closely monitor the summit because the alliance has declared Moscow an enemy and sought to defeat Russia.
Peskov said NATO “is an alliance that considers Russia an enemy, an opponent.”
NATO “has regularly declared its objective of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield” and “is directly participating in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of Ukraine”, he added.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
