Russia hits Kyiv children's hospital, casualties reported

The Okhmatdyt hospital, Ukraine's largest children's medical center, was hit during a Russian missile attack on July 8, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported.

At least two people were killed, the State Emergency Service reported at around 1:30 p.m. local time. Mayor Vitali Klitschko later clarified that both killed were adults. One of them was a doctor.

Over 600 patients and at least as many staff members were at the Okhmatdyt and the Ukrainian Center for Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, located near the hospital, at the moment of the strike, Health Minister Viktor Liashko wrote on Facebook.

More than 50 people, including seven children, were injured, he added.

The Russian attack also destroyed one building and damaged four others in the Okhmatdyt hospital, according to Liashko.

According to Klitschko, patients of the children's hospital "are being evacuated to the municipal hospital of the city."

"It is a nightmare. This is another evidence of (Russia's) genocide, what Russians are doing to Ukraine and our city," he said.

"I don't understand how people can be such animals. Even animals don't do such things. They are not even animals," Alla Nesolionova, a doctor at the cardiology center at the Okhmatdyt hospital, told the Kyiv Independent.

"I don't know how these pilots can launch missiles. They know the targets. They know the coordinates."

"The only thing I want is that this will be back to them a million times worse. I want them to feel it on their own skin," she added.

The Russian military struck the Okhmatdyt hospital with a Kh-101 cruise missile, according to the preliminary data obtained by the State Security Service (SBU).

Fragments of the rear body of the Kh-101 cruise missile with a serial number and part of the missile's rudder were found at the scene, the State Security Service said.

"I am sincerely grateful to every medic who continues to help, treat, and save despite all the risks and threats. I spent the day at the site of the tragedy, surrounded by our hospital teams. You are incredible," the minister said.

Russia launched another attack against Kyiv later during the day, with debris damaging a maternity hospital, killing four people and injuring three.

So far, at least 27 people have been recorded killed in Kyiv. Another 72 were injured in the capital, while two others were injured in Kyiv Oblast.

Apart from Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, and other cities also came under attack. Around 40 missiles of various types were launched against Ukraine, Zelensky said.

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The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek