Russia strikes a children’s hospital in Kyiv

By Mirek Zastavnyi

Monday, July 8, Russian missiles rained down on Ohmatdyt, a renowned children’s hospital in Kyiv, and throughout the capital, as well as central and eastern Ukraine, killing dozens and injuring more than 170, officials said. Ohmatdyt, short for “Protection of Maternity and Childhood”, is Ukraine’s largest and one of Europe’s biggest multidisciplinary pediatric diagnostic and treatment centers. With 620 beds, it treats up to 20,000 children annually. Another 20,000 receive emergency care there.

The daylight attack included the use of Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, one of the most advanced Russian weapons. The Kinzhal flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it hard to intercept.  The blasts shook city buildings, bringing death and devastation. Casualties include children and medical personnel. So far, 38 people have been reported dead. 190 people were injured and are receiving assistance. There are 64 people hospitalized in Kyiv, 28 in Kryvyi Rih, and 6 in Dnipro. All patients from Okhmatdyt have been transferred to other medical institutions. In some areas where the missiles hit, rescue operations continued throughout the night, involving hundreds of rescuers.

According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, another medical facility was also damaged in Kyiv’s Dniprovsky district, with four people killed.

Monday’s attacks have added an urgency to Tuesday’s NATO summit, where the security alliance’s 75th anniversary will also be marked. NATO leaders are expected to rebuff Ukraine’s membership bid but U.S. officials say they will offer more air defense systems to help Ukraine fend off near-daily Russian strikes.

“Russia cannot but know where its missiles are flying and must fully answer for all its crimes: against people, against children, against humanity in general,” President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to the shelling.

Zelenskyy called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council and said Russian President Vladimir Putin must be held accountable. “We would like to see greater resolve in our partners and hear resolute responses to these attacks,” Zelenskyy said in Warsaw, where he stopped on his way to the NATO summit. “I can see a possibility for our partners to use their air defense systems in a way to hit the missiles that are carrying out attacks.”