KYIV, Ukraine — Russian missiles rained down on a prominent children’s hospital in Kyiv and across the capital, as well as central and eastern Ukraine, on Monday, killing dozens of people and wounding more than 170, according to authorities.
Thick smoke rose from several districts of Kiev, and Ukraine’s Health Ministry released a video showing charred exterior walls and blown-out windows of the Okhmadit Children’s Hospital in the capital, with one of the hospital buildings reduced to rubble.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said some 37 people had been killed and more than 170 injured, including three children.
“Russian terrorists must be held accountable for this. Mere fears cannot stop terrorism,” Zelensky said.
Videos and photos taken by Ukrainian authorities show medical workers and patients in bloody clothing and apparently dazed looks wandering around the hospital grounds, and video from inside the hospital shows windows blown out over patients’ beds and blood splattered on the floor.
Other footage taken from the scene showed crowds of both medical workers and civilians helping rescuers clear rubble, much of which was still smoldering, from one of the hospital buildings.
Kyiv city authorities said two adults were killed in the attack on Okhmadit Hospital. An additional 20 people were killed and 82 wounded in attacks on the city. City authorities said two children were among the dead, but it was unclear whether they died at the children’s hospital. More people are believed to be trapped under rubble.
In a post on Twitter, President Zelenskyy said the pediatric hospital is one of the most important medical facilities in Europe. “Okhmatdyt has saved and restored the health of thousands of children,” he said.
Seven of the injured were children who were in the hospital, and one of the dead adults was a doctor, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post. He added that he declared Tuesday a day of mourning for the victims.
It was not immediately clear whether the hospital was hit directly or whether it was hit by shrapnel from an intercepted missile.
Andriy Yermak, head of Zelensky’s office, said in a separate Telegram post that there were casualties “in almost every district of the capital.” “It was an attack on civilians at a time when there were a lot of people on the streets,” he added.
In other areas, authorities said at least 10 people Died In Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russian forces fired multiple ballistic and cruise missiles at Ukrainian targets and explosions were heard across the capital, making it the largest and most widespread attack on Kiev in months.
The daytime attack used one of Russia’s most advanced weapons, a Kinzhal hypersonic missile, the air force said. The missile travels at 10 times the speed of sound, making it difficult to intercept. An explosion shook buildings in the city.
Another medical facility in Kyiv’s Dniprovsky district was also damaged, killing four people, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, which said rocket shrapnel had been recorded falling there earlier in the day.
Zelenskiy said explosions were also reported in other cities across Ukraine, including Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. “More than 40 missiles of different types were used,” he said in a Telegram post.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday that it had launched attacks “with long-range precision weapons” on Ukrainian military installations and an air base.
Despite footage showing widespread damage to homes and medical facilities in Ukrainian cities, the Defense Ministry denied reports by Ukrainian officials that Russia deliberately attacked civilians. Instead, the ministry claimed the damage in Kiev was the result of “the fall of Ukrainian air defense missiles fired from anti-aircraft missile systems over the city.”
However, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said Russia had directly attacked the Okhmadit hospital using a Kh-101 missile. It said investigators had found missile debris at the site and called the attack a “war crime.”
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said in a Telegram post that the attack showed Ukraine’s air defenses remain inadequate. President Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials have been calling for more advanced air defense systems from the West for months.
The attack came on the eve of a three-day NATO summit in Washington that will consider how to reassure Ukraine of the alliance’s unwavering support.
U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the missile attack as a “horrifying reminder of Russian atrocities.”
“It is vital that the world continues to stand with Ukraine at this critical moment and that we do not ignore Russian aggression,” Biden said in a statement.
“Together with our allies, we are announcing new steps to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses to protect Ukrainian cities and civilians from Russian aggression,” he said. “The United States stands with the Ukrainian people.”
