A children’s hospital in Ukraine was one of the sites severely damaged in a series of attacks across the country that left at least 31 people dead, officials said. In Kyiv, at least 19 people were killed in a rare daytime Russian attack on the city.
Two people died at the Ohmatdy children’s hospital, one of the country’s main paediatric centres. The head of the military administration in the city of Kryvyi Rih said at least 10 people had died there. Three more people died in the eastern town of Pokrovsk and one more in Dnipro.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is visiting Poland where he hopes to sign a security agreement, said Russia must face the consequences of its attacks on civilians.
“Different cities: Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk. More than 40 missiles of various types. Residential buildings, infrastructure and a children’s hospital were damaged,” Zelensky said.
Plumes of smoke could be seen across the capital Kyiv, while videos posted on social media showed destruction inside and outside the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital.
Zelensky wrote in a social media post that people were trapped under the rubble of the hospital.
“Right now, everyone is helping to remove debris – doctors and ordinary people,” the president wrote.
Indeed, emergency services have been searching through the rubble for survivors.
Following the attack, a number of people formed a human chain to remove the rubble piece by piece. Dozens of volunteers, medics and rescue workers are taking part, but with the amount of damage inflicted on the building, it could take some time to complete the task.
Emergency workers at the scene are not sure exactly how many people, alive or dead, are trapped inside the rubble caused by the missile attack, authorities told BBC reporter Kyla Herrmannsen.
Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said cancer and intensive care wards were hit by the blast. The hospital had to be evacuated after losing electricity, oxygen and water supplies.
Children who were being treated there are being transferred to other hospitals, Viktor Lyashko said.
Photos from the scene showed children, some still hooked up to intravenous drips, sitting outside the hospital as they waited to be evacuated.
“The most important thing today is not to panic, but to help save as many lives as possible,” he told Ukrainian television at the scene.
The minister added that three surgeries were being performed at the time of the attack.
“It is a horrible act of terror, and it brings tears to my eyes to see how many people have come to help us,” she told reporters.
Vitaly Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, spoke from the hospital to the news agency Reuters saying it was “one of the worst attacks” on the capital since the start of the war.
He said there were several deaths in the attack on the hospital and that the exact number was being clarified.
Meanwhile, the head of the military administration in Kryvy Rih posted a message on Telegram saying that 10 people were killed and 31 wounded in the attack on the city. Of the latter, 10 were seriously injured, he said.
Kryvy Rih is Zelensky’s hometown and has been repeatedly attacked by Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Dnipro regional authority Sergey Lysak said one person was killed in the city and six were injured. He added that a high-rise building and a business were hit.
Three more people were killed in Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces have taken control of a number of towns in recent weeks.
The Russian strikes coincide with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival in Moscow for a two-day state visit, where he is scheduled to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Monday.
“Civilians must be protected”: UN
Moscow has not yet commented on the attacks, but has previously insisted that its military forces do not target civilian infrastructure.
The United Nations has condemned the serious Russian attacks in Ukraine, stressing that “dozens of people have been killed and injured.”
“It is unconscionable that children are being killed and injured in this war,” said Denise Brown, humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine. “Under international humanitarian law, hospitals enjoy special protection. Civilians must be protected.”
The UN humanitarian mission in Ukraine said civilian casualties have been mounting in recent months as Russia resumed its air campaign. In a recent report, it said May had been the deadliest month for civilians in almost a year.
For several months, Zelensky has been asking his Western allies to supply more anti-aircraft defense systems.
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