Russian missile struck children's hospital in Kyiv following 'programmed route,' source says

Russian forces attacked the Okhmatdyt hospital on July 8 using a Kh-101 cruise missile in accordance with a programmed route, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent.

The attack was deliberate, a source in on of Ukraine's top security agencies said.

The Russian military struck the Okhmatdyt hospital, Ukraine's largest children's medical center, on the morning of July 8, killing at least two people and injuring at least 16, including seven children, according to local authorities.

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 earlier in the day.

The source confirmed that the strike was carried out with the Kh-101 cruise missile, referring to the obtained video footage from the moment of the attack.

The missile's appearance in the video matches the design of the Kh-101 cruise missile, the source said. This is indicated by two wings in the lower part of the missile and three control rudders.

"In front of the rudders in the lower part of the missile body, there is an engine," the source added.

"This is typical of the Kh-101 missile, in which the engine extends from the missile body after launching from an aircraft."

The missile was aimed exactly at the hospital, considering the route it followed in the video, the source said.

"It (the missile) was not damaged by air defense systems and hit exactly the target it was programmed to hit," the source added.

Russia launched a mass missile attack on Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine on the morning of July 8, killing at least 36 civilians and injuring 149 others, according to the State Emergency Service.

Ukrainian forces downed 30 out of the 38 missiles launched on Ukraine in the morning of July 8, according to the Air Force report.

Deadly Monday attack on Kyiv in photos: Children hospital hit, 25 killed, rescue works continue on attack sites

Editor’s note: Some of the following images are graphic in nature and might be disturbing. For Kyiv residents, Monday morning started with loud explosions throughout the city. Russia launched a large-scale missile attack targeting the capital as well as cities in Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk oblasts…

The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko