KYIV CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL HIT BY MISSILES AS RUSSIA UNLEASHES DEADLY BARRAGE ACROSS UKRAINE

Mon 08 July 2024:

The hospital is the biggest children’s medical facility in the country.

Russia, which says it only strikes military targets, has not commented on the allegation.

Russia’s daylight strikes across various Ukrainian cities included the use of Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, according to the air force.

The missiles are seen as one of the most advanced Russian weapons, as it flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it hard to intercept.

The Ukrainian president says an unknown number of people are trapped under the rubble of the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv.

Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv. One of the most important CHILDREN’S hospitals not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe. 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… pic.twitter.com/TmRlUmSBri

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 8, 2024

 

“Right now, everyone is helping to clear the rubble – doctors and ordinary people,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, saying it was not immediately clear how many people had been killed.

He described it as “one of the most important” hospitals for children, “not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe”.

In an earlier social media post, he wrote: “Russian terrorists have once again launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine. Different cities – Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Slovyansk, Kramatorsk.

“More than 40 missiles of various types. Apartment buildings, infrastructure, and a children’s hospital have been damaged.”

Ihor Klymenko says at least 20 people have been killed and about 50 wounded in waves of Russian missile attacks across Ukraine this morning.

Deaths have so far been reported in several cities and towns, including Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih and Pokrovsk.

Russian officials have yet to comment.

In Kyiv, witnesses say windows were smashed and panels ripped off following the missile attack. Parents holding babies were seen walking out into the street, dazed and crying.

“We heard an explosion, then we were showered with debris,” Svitlana Kravchenko, 33, told Reuters after she and her husband Viktor went out of the shelter.

Their two-month-old baby had been unharmed, but Svitlana had suffered cuts, and their car was buried under the rubble of the destroyed building across the courtyard from the main ward.

“It was scary, I couldn’t breathe. I was trying to cover [my baby]. I was trying to cover him with this cloth so that he could breathe,” she said.

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