Photo: Roman Pilipey Agence France-Presse Rescuers clear the rubble of the Ohmatdyt children's hospital destroyed following a missile attack in Kyiv on July 8, 2024.
Barbara Wojazer – Agence France-Presse to kyiv
Posted at 6:45 a.m. Updated at 12:01 p.m.
- Europe
Russia carried out a massive attack on cities in Ukraine on Monday, which left at least 36 people dead, including some in hospitals, sparking outrage from kyiv and its supporters the day before of an important NATO summit.
These new strikes also raise questions about the state of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense, once again put to the test after previous Russian bombings which notably targeted power plants and military airfields.
“Russian terrorists have again heavily attacked Ukraine with missiles. Different cities: kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rig, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk,” Volodymyr Zelensky reacted on Telegram. “Apartment buildings, infrastructure and a children's hospital were damaged.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the strike as heinous, in which a wing of a children's hospital was partially destroyed.
“This is disgusting. Hitting a children's hospital and the innocent children there is an unjustifiable act,” Trudeau wrote on the social network North Atlantic Treaty (NATO).
“My heart goes out to the bereaved families, and Canada's commitment to Ukraine remains as strong as ever,” he added.
< p>From Warsaw where he is visiting, the Ukrainian president demanded from the West a “stronger response” to Russia. He also called for the convening of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
The results of these shots deep in Ukrainian territory are one of the highest in months, reflecting the wear and tear of Ukrainian air defense.
In Kiev, two medical centers were hit, including a large children's establishment , leaving at least 22 dead. Eleven people were also killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region (center-east) and three in Pokrovsk (east). At least 140 people were injured in total.
Authorities in the capital decreed that a day of mourning would be observed on Tuesday and that all entertainment events would be canceled.
“One of the largest children's hospitals in 'Europe', that of Okhmatdyt, was damaged in Kiev, Mr. Zelensky denounced on its missiles and must be held fully accountable,” he added. According to Ukrainian security services, at least two people were killed in this hospital and seven children were among the injured.
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Moscow denies, claiming to have targeted and hit “military installations” and affirming that the images prove that the damage in this establishment was caused by the fall of a missile Ukrainian anti-aircraft.
On site, hundreds of people, rescuers, relatives, police, rushed to help the victims, clear up, and find their loved ones.
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“It is very important that the world does not remain silent and that everyone sees what Russia is doing,” Mr. Zelensky said.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell lamented that Russia is “mercilessly targeting Ukrainian civilians,” saying “Ukraine needs air defense now.”
Paris spoke of “barbaric acts” to be “added to the list of war crimes for which Russia will have to account”, while London denounced a “terrible attack”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared that these kinds of “particularly shocking” attacks “are unacceptable and must stop immediately”.
In total, the Ukrainians claim that the Russians fired 38 missiles, of which 30 were shot down.
The Russian army regularly strikes deep inside the territory Ukrainian, targeting in particular energy installations and factories and killing civilians in a strategy which, according to kyiv, aims to undermine the morale of the Ukrainians.
Private energy operator DTEK reported on Telegram that three of its electricity substations had been destroyed or damaged in the capital. Several industrial sites were hit, according to authorities.
Ukraine has only a limited number of air defense systems and munitions and is in demand increasingly to its Western allies.
Zelensky in Warsaw before NATO
These strikes come at a time when, on the front line, the Russian army is encroaching on ground and trying to take advantage of the Ukrainian army's difficulties in replenishing its ranks and obtaining more weapons and ammunition from the from Westerners.
During the NATO meeting starting Tuesday in the United States, there will be much discussion of the support provided by this alliance to Ukraine but also of the uncertainties posed by the American elections in November and the possible victory of Donald Trump.
The latter has said on several occasions that he would end the war within a very short time, which implicitly would be to the detriment of the Ukrainians who have been resisting the Russian invasion for almost two and a half years.
Mr. Trudeau hopes to strengthen his allies' support for sending additional military aid to Ukraine, as doubts about continued fighting grow in the United States and Europe.
Volodymyr Zelensky signed a security agreement with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Monday before going to this summit in Washington.
The head of the Indian government, Narendra Modi, is in Moscow. India has not explicitly condemned the invasion of Ukraine and is abstaining from voting on UN resolutions against its traditional ally Russia.
For his part, Federal Minister of National Defence, Bill Blair, is expected to speak about the defense of the Canadian Arctic at the Foreign Policy and Security Forum in Washington later today, before joining Mr. Trudeau and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly at the NATO Leaders' Summit later this week.