US President Joe Biden has condemned a wave of Russian missile strikes that killed at least 40 people in Ukraine, calling them a “horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality” and also vowing to bolster Kyiv’s air defences.
At least 190 people have been infected across the country, including some at a children’s hospital in the capital, Kyiv, on Monday.
Russia on Monday denied targeting the Kiev hospital, saying it was hit by shrapnel from a Ukrainian air defense missile, while Ukraine said it had found remains of a Russian cruise missile.
Biden’s remarks came as Washington hosts a NATO summit on Tuesday and into Thursday.
The US president said that “further reinforcements to Ukraine’s air defenses” would be announced at the meeting.
Leaders of NATO’s 32 member states, as well as NATO’s partner countries and the European Union, are meeting to celebrate the alliance’s 75th anniversary.
Biden welcomed the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other NATO leaders.
The summit will focus on defense and deterrence in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We will announce new measures to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses to help protect its cities and civilians from Russian strikes,” Biden added. “I will meet with President Zelensky to make clear that our support for Ukraine is unwavering.”
The UN Security Council is also meeting on Tuesday, at Ukraine’s request.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres joined Western officials in condemning the Russian missile attack on Ukraine.
“Direct Russian hit”
In its latest assessment of the attack, the United Nations indicated that a Russian missile may have directly targeted the hospital.
“The deadly strike on a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was likely the result of a direct hit by a Russian missile, the head of the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, Danielle Bell, said on Tuesday, citing the mission’s own analysis.”
“Analysis of video footage and on-scene assessment indicate a high probability that the children’s hospital sustained a direct hit and not damage from an intercepted weapons system,” Bell told a news briefing in Geneva via video link from Kyiv.
She stressed that her team, which visited the site on Monday, was unable to reach a final determination, but it appeared that the missile was launched by the Russian Federation.
Bell said the center treats children with serious conditions, such as cancer and kidney disease, and had about 670 pediatric patients and about 1,000 staff at the time of the attack.
“The staff took the children to a shelter on Monday morning, when the air raid sirens went off, otherwise the casualties would have been much higher,” she added.
The governor of the Russian Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced early Tuesday that Russian air defenses shot down several air targets as they approached Belgorod, killing one person and wounding two others.
“Our air defenses repelled a Ukrainian attack over the city of Belgorod and the Belgorod region. Several air targets were shot down as they approached the city, which caused us great sadness. One person died of his wounds. According to preliminary information, two civilians were injured,” Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel.
This Ukrainian attack comes less than 24 hours after Moscow launched extensive Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, with dozens of missiles that resulted in at least 36 deaths and dozens of injuries, some of which targeted two hospitals, according to Ukrainian authorities.
These new strikes raise questions about the effectiveness of Ukrainian air defenses in confronting missiles, after previous Russian bombing targeted power plants and military airports.
Russian forces have repeatedly targeted the Ukrainian capital with a barrage of missiles since the war began on February 24, 2022, and the last major attack on Kyiv with drones and missiles was last June.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on the Russian attacks, said on Telegram: “Russian terrorists again attacked Ukraine with massive missile attacks. Different cities: Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rig, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk. Residential buildings, infrastructure, a children’s hospital were damaged.”
Later, in a post on the X platform, Zelensky asked the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting after the Russian strikes.
Zelensky also called on Ukraine’s Western allies to “respond more forcefully” to Moscow, saying, “I would like our partners to show greater flexibility and a stronger response to the blow that Russia has inflicted.”
US President Joe Biden has condemned Russian strikes on Ukraine, vowing to take “new measures” to bolster Kyiv’s air defences.
“We will announce, with our allies, new measures to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses to help protect its cities and citizens from Russian strikes,” Biden said in a statement.
The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed that it shot down 30 missiles launched by the Russian army.
One person was killed and six others were injured in the city of Dnipro, Dnipro regional head Sergei Lysak said. A high-rise building and a company were hit, he added.
Three people were killed in Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces have taken control of a number of villages in recent weeks.
Exchange of accusations over the bombing of a children’s hospital
Two people were killed when the Omatdet Children’s Hospital – Ukraine’s largest pediatric facility – was severely damaged in the explosion.
Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Monday that 36 people were killed and 140 injured in the attacks.
The moment the rocket hit was “like in a movie” with “a big light and then a terrible sound”, hospital doctor Lesya Lisitsia told the BBC.
“Part of the hospital was destroyed and another part was on fire. It was really badly damaged, maybe 60-70 percent of the hospital was damaged,” she added.
Omatdet is a major hospital that treats cancer and transplants.
“We are now evacuating the patients to the nearest hospital,” Dr. Lisitsia explained.
Hospital officials told Ukrainian television that about 20 children were being treated in the ward that was hit.
Images from the scene showed young children – some with intravenous drips – sitting outside the hospital as it was evacuated.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the two people who died in hospital were adults, including a doctor. Rescuers fear more people could be trapped under the rubble, he added.
Mayor Klitschko accused Russia of attempting “genocide of the population of Ukraine.”
“Now the whole world can see how Russian missiles and kamikaze drones killed Ukrainian citizens in our peaceful city,” he added.
A separate maternity hospital in Kyiv’s Dniprovskoye district was also partially destroyed by falling debris, killing seven people, the city’s mayor added.
Russia denied targeting the hospital, saying it was hit by shrapnel from a Ukrainian air defense missile. But Ukraine says it has found the remains of a Russian cruise missile.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, “The photos and video footage published from Kyiv clearly confirm the fact that the destruction was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile launched from one of the anti-aircraft missile systems installed in the city.”
The statement considered that what it described as “similar hysterical cases” afflict Kiev every time on the eve of meetings of its sponsors in NATO.
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