Russia Launches Devastating Missile Barrage Across Ukraine, Strikes Kyiv Children’s Hospital
New Delhi: Russia launched dozens of missiles at cities across Ukraine on Monday, resulting in a devastating attack that killed at least 20 people and inflicted severe damage on a children’s hospital in Kyiv, officials reported.
The rare daytime Russian assault coincided with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s planned visit to Warsaw, ahead of his attendance at the NATO summit in Washington. Explosions echoed through the capital, and AFP journalists on the ground reported seeing black smoke rising from the center of Kyiv.
Among the targeted sites was Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt hospital, Ukraine’s largest children’s medical center, which has played a crucial role in caring for the country’s sickest children. Images from the scene showed volunteers and security personnel sifting through rubble, with black smoke billowing from the severely damaged building. Medical staff, some wearing blood-stained scrubs, were seen working amidst the destruction.
“Russian terrorists once again massively attacked Ukraine with missiles. Different cities: Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk,” President Zelensky wrote on social media, listing major civilian hubs in the south and east of the country. “More than 40 missiles of various types. Residential buildings, infrastructure, and a children’s hospital were damaged.”
Zelensky reported that an unknown number of people remained trapped under the rubble of the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital. Municipal officials had earlier confirmed that at least seven people were killed in the barrage that struck Kyiv.
The coordinated missile strikes extended beyond the capital. In Zelensky’s hometown, Kryvyi Rih, a city repeatedly targeted by Russian bombardments, the mayor reported that at least 10 people were killed and over 30 wounded. In Dnipro, several buildings, including a high-rise and a service station, were damaged, with reports of multiple injuries, according to Dnipropetrovsk Governor Sergiy Lysak.
In the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces have recently captured several villages, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko confirmed that three people were killed in Pokrovsk, a town with a pre-war population of approximately 60,000.
The last major attack on Kyiv involving drones and missiles occurred last month, continuing a pattern of repeated Russian assaults on the Ukrainian capital since the invasion began in February 2022.
As the international community watches the escalating conflict, President Zelensky reiterated the urgent need for global action. “The entire world must use all its determination to finally put an end to the Russian strikes. Killing is what Putin brings. Only together can we bring real peace and security,” he stated.
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