“We thank our partners, including the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Romania, for adopting a strong declaration of support for Ukraine’s air defense systems to protect our people, cities and critical infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post on the sidelines of a NATO summit. “Russian aerial terrorism against the Ukrainian people, including yesterday’s brutal attack on a children’s hospital, must be met with unity and strength.”
In response to the attack, Zelenskiy also called for the lifting of U.S. arms restrictions that prevent the country from attacking major air bases on Russian territory. He said the Russian military needed to attack Russian planes where they are stationed and rearm with new missiles.
The Biden administration has so far refused to ease those restrictions, except to allow strikes in border areas where Russian forces are planning imminent attacks.
Ukrainian officials said 33 of the 44 missiles fired in Monday’s attack were intercepted.
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The bombers penetrated the country’s air defences, killing two people at Okhmadit Children’s Hospital in Kiev and wreaking havoc in the cities of Dnipro and Kryvyi Rog, with more than 70 injured.
In emotional testimony to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, hospital director Volodymyr Zobnir described scenes of “total hell” as ceilings collapsed and people screamed for help.
“At 10:42 a.m. we heard a big explosion. The ground shook and the walls shook. Children and adults started screaming and crying in fear,” Zobnir said. “Three complex operations were being carried out. Children were on intravenous drips, undergoing dialysis and were in intensive care. What happened put their lives at risk.”
Dalia Chechilo, a spokeswoman for Okhmatdito, told The Washington Post in an interview on Tuesday that people ran immediately to bomb shelters when the first explosion occurred, before another deafening explosion shook the ceiling so hard that Chechilo thought it was going to collapse.
When Chechilo left the shelter, she said she was greeted by an apocalyptic scene of billowing smoke, windows blown out and children covered in blood.
“I felt nothing but absolute terror,” she said, her voice trembling. “How could they attack a place where children are being treated? I couldn’t believe that they actually shelled the largest pediatric hospital in Ukraine.”
The barrage comes just a day before a NATO summit. While the United States and other NATO nations have rejected Ukraine’s early entry into the alliance, many have signed bilateral security agreements with Kiev and pledged continued support.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Monday that it had carried out major air raids on Ukrainian cities, but senior Moscow officials continued to insist the attacks were strictly military in nature and denied responsibility for the attack on the hospital.
Investigators from the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the hospital was hit by a Russian Kh-101 missile. High Precision Cruise Missiles. Video and photos of Monday’s attack showed a Kh-101 missile hitting the building.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the destruction of the hospital a “tragedy” and blamed NATO-supplied NASAMS missiles, without providing evidence.
“The Zelenskyy regime’s attempts to use the tragedy at the Kiev children’s hospital for propaganda purposes confirm its inhumanity,” Zakharova said.
At the Security Council meeting, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia also condemned Ukraine. “They claim that the enemy deliberately targeted the children,” he said of Ukraine. “But everyone knows that the rocket was shot down by mistake.”
Nebenzia said Ukraine was spreading false propaganda on the eve of the NATO summit to distract attention from other issues, such as “why military installations are located so close to residential areas and hospitals.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted to reporters on Tuesday that Moscow was not attacking civilians, but countless homes, hospitals, theaters and other civilian facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Russia’s invasion in 2022. In some cases, entire cities are in ruins.
“I urge you to believe the statements of the Defense Ministry, which categorically denies that the attack was aimed at civilian targets and describes it as a fall of a missile defense system,” Peskov said.
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said Russia was modernizing its missiles and drones to make them harder to detect and had increased its use of ballistic missiles in the past three months, some of which had recently been fitted with radar and thermal traps, he said.
“During today’s attack, cruise missiles will fly at extremely low altitudes, with combat operations in some places down to an altitude of 50 meters, which of course could have terrible consequences on the ground as well,” Ignat said in a detailed Facebook post on Monday.
Karolina Hurd, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research group, said Monday’s attack was “another very poignant example” that Ukraine’s Western-made systems to defend its cities are insufficient.
Hurd said in an interview that Ukraine needs a continued supply of Patriot interceptor missiles and systems. “I hope this attack serves as a recognition that Patriot is extremely important,” she said.
Hurd said Russia was developing new tactics to maximise the damage of its air strikes and Ukraine must be able to adapt, as it did in response to Russian attacks last year using Iranian-made Shahed drones.
“Ukraine has adapted to changing Russian tactics,” Hurd said. “Ukraine has been modernizing its air defenses, but this will take time and requires more immediate assistance.”
The attack on Okhmatdit Children’s Hospital, a major cancer center, killed one doctor and one adult and destroyed the dialysis unit. Eight children were injured and hospitalized.
According to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, 627 children are receiving treatment. At the time of the attack, there were nearly 100 patients in the hospital. Nearly another 100 were evacuated to other hospitals in Kiev, some waiting to be transferred abroad, while 68 children remained in Okhmatdyt’s surviving buildings for treatment. The rest were discharged and returned home.
“This will have serious long-term consequences for the medical sector in terms of treating children,” said hospital director Zovnir. “Patients will no longer be able to receive proper care.”
Three bodies were found on Tuesday morning in the rubble of a home that was also damaged in Monday’s attack, bringing the total death toll in the capital to 11.
After Monday’s attack, the White House reiterated that it would not further loosen restrictions on Ukraine using U.S.-supplied weapons to attack targets on Russian soil. Press secretary John Kirby said U.S. weapons could only be used to strike border areas inside Russia, where Moscow’s forces may be preparing an imminent attack on Ukraine.
Zelensky said Russia urgently needed more than sympathy from donor countries or permission to attack Russian military planes at the base.
“Concern alone will not stop terrorism. Condolences are not weapons,” Zelenskiy said in a statement on Monday. “We need to shoot down Russian missiles. We need to destroy Russian fighter jets at their bases. We need to take strong measures to eliminate security deficiencies. … Our partners have the capabilities to make this happen. We need a decision as soon as possible.”
Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report. Punnett reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
