Russia attacks children’s hospital in Ukraine

ODESA, Ukraine >> Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital was destroyed by a Russian missile today, leaving the capital Kyiv reeling with images of bleeding and injured children. Hundreds rushed to the scene to help in the desperate search for survivors, clearing away twisted metal and shattered concrete.

The attack on the hospital was part of a barrage of bombings by Moscow across the country, including one of the deadliest attacks on Kyiv since the first months of the war. At least 38 people were killed across the country, including 27 in Kyiv. More than 100 people were injured. The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 30 of the 38 missiles Russia fired during the attack, which began mid-morning.

“The attack was massive and included the use of air, ballistic and cruise missiles,” said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration. “The missiles flew towards the capital in waves and from different directions.”

A doctor and another adult were killed in the hospital and at least ten other people were injured, including seven children, local authorities said. At least three children were rescued from the rubble, the Ukrainian emergency services said.

Olha Melnyk, the mother of a child who was being treated in the hospital’s oncology department – and was not there at the time – said she was in a state of shock.

“There were so many families like us who were already fighting their own battle with oncology,” she said. “And you know, these kids can’t go down to the basement because of all the tubes and treatments. If they do that, there will be no healing at all, you can’t interrupt the healing session.”

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the meeting and said Russian President Vladimir Putin must be held accountable.

“Everything they try to discuss peace with him, Russia responds with attacks on houses and hospitals,” he said. “That’s why we can only force Russia to make peace.”

A video of the attack, taken by a Kyiv citizen and verified by the New York Times, shows a missile flying downward at high speed before hitting the children’s hospital. Fabian Hoffman, a doctoral student at the University of Oslo specializing in missile technology, identified the weapon as a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile.

The weapon type and trajectory suggested Russia deliberately targeted the hospital, Hoffman said. He said the missile’s trajectory “appears to be controlled” and was likely programmed before launch.

Hoffman also pointed out that the missile had not been hit by a Ukrainian interceptor and was “completely intact, with no visible damage to the fuselage.”

The Ukrainian security service reportedly seized fragments of the missile that hit the hospital and also identified it as a Kh-101 cruise missile.

The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office said seven of today’s victims were caused by rocket debris that fell on another medical facility, a women’s hospital in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian Air Force said today’s strikes were carried out in part by bombers operating deep inside Russian territory, where Ukraine is prohibited from carrying out attacks using Western weapons. The attacks came a day before NATO leaders are scheduled to meet in Washington, where they are expected to announce new measures to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses.

Zelensky, who was in Warsaw today to sign a new security pact with Poland, said the document “contains a provision on shooting down Russian missiles and drones in Ukrainian airspace fired in the direction of Poland.” He said both sides were “determined to implement the pact” but did not say when it would come into force.

Russia has relentlessly bombarded Ukraine in recent weeks, trying to overwhelm its defenses through the sheer volume of attacks. Although Kyiv has some of the country’s strongest air defenses – and is thus largely protected from direct missile attacks – the city’s military administrator warned last month that Moscow was testing new tactics to breach them.

Overall, the country’s air defense is overwhelmed and can hardly protect vital military facilities, critical infrastructure and residential areas simultaneously.

“The attack is a tragic reminder that it is not possible to have air defense everywhere, that decisions must be made about what is defended and what is not,” said Thomas Karako, who heads the missile defense project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“The protection of military assets tends to be prioritized,” Karako added, “which unfortunately plays into the hands of those who deliberately target civilians in violation of the most basic laws of armed conflict.”

The hospital’s director, Volodymyr Zhovnir, said more than 600 children were being treated there at the time of the impact.

Doctors and others at the hospital showed images of blood-stained hallways, collapsed ceilings and destroyed operating rooms.

Surgeon Dr. Tymofii Dvorovyi said he managed to get his patients into the bomb shelter shortly before the attack. “I don’t know what it was like in other departments,” he said. “When the rocket hit, surgeons were performing operations there.”

After the explosion, he said, he saw dozens of “seriously injured” people staggering through the corridors.

A two-story medical building next to the main hospital suffered the most damage. Shortly after an explosion destroyed it, a woman appeared near the entrance carrying a small child covered in dust and blood. Other dazed and bloodied staff, many with children in their arms, followed.

The explosion also shattered the windows of the main hospital and hurled shrapnel into the building.

“Now we are evacuating the patients to another hospital,” said Dvorovyi

Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said intensive care units, operating rooms and oncology departments had all suffered damage.

“Maybe the Russians knew that families like us were easy targets,” said Melnyk, the mother whose child was being treated at the hospital. “I just can’t believe something like this is happening.”

Today’s attacks began before dawn when Russian bombers fired four X-101 cruise missiles and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshuk said in a statement. Three of the cruise missiles were shot down, he said, without giving details of those that evaded air defenses.

A few hours after the first attack, air raid sirens sounded throughout Ukraine as Russia launched a second, larger attack, which also hit the hospital.

According to DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, three electrical substations were also destroyed in the attack. In total, damage was reported in at least seven districts of the capital.

British intelligence firm Janes concluded in an analysis presented to The Times after the attack: “Ukraine’s air defence network will be hard-pressed to defend itself against area attacks unless it is strengthened or Ukraine is unable to consistently and accurately attack the assets Russia uses to launch these attacks.”

This article originally appeared in the New York Times.