UN assessment suggests Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital was hit by Russian missile
A deadly strike on Kyiv’s Ohmatdyt children’s hospital – Ukraine’s biggest paediatrics facility – was likely caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile, the head of the UN’s human rights monitoring mission said.
Danielle Bell, head of mission for the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, said:
Analysis of the video footage and an assessment made at the incident site indicates a high likelihood that the children’s hospital suffered a direct hit rather than receiving damage due to an intercepted weapon system.
She said her team, who visited the site on Monday, could not make a final determination but that the missile appeared to have been launched by the Russian Federation.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said earlier today that it was a Nasams surface-to-air missile launched by Ukraine that hit the children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday. Ukrainian authorities said that Russia struck the hospital with a Kh-101 Kalibr missile.
Officials and emergency staff said it was not immediately clear how many doctors and patients – dead or alive – remained trapped under the rubble. At least two people reportedly died when a missile flattened part of the hospital on Monday.
In a post on X this morning, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that all the patients from Okhmatdyt have been transferred to other medical institutions.
The rescue operation after yesterday’s Russian missile attack continues.
As of now, 38 people have been reported dead, including four children. My condolences to all the families and friends affected by this tragedy.
190 people were injured and are receiving assistance. There… pic.twitter.com/T7kfLkggKx
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 9, 2024
Key events
A brief update from Reuters on Modi’s visit to Moscow:
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi told Russian president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that the death of innocent children in war, conflict or a terrorist attack “is very painful”, a day after Ukraine said Kyiv’s main children’s hospital was hit by a deadly Russian missile strike.
Modi also told Putin that a solution to the war in Ukraine “cannot be found on the battlefield … we have to find peace through talks”.
Russia has denied attacking the children’s hospital in Ukraine’s capital.
Donations have poured in to help rebuild the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital, one of the largest in Europe and provided treatment for various diseases including cancer. Rescue operations at the hospital ended early on Tuesday, with two people confirmed dead and dozens injured after part of the medical facility was reduced to rubble by Russian strikes.
Reuters calculations based on statements and Ukrainian media reports put the total amount donated to the hospital so far from Ukraine’s corporate sector at about 300 million hryvnia ($7.3m; £5.7m).
Oleh Horokhovskyi, founder of Ukrainian lender Monobank, said they had gathered 100 million hryvnias ($2.4m; £1.9m) from various businesses within just three hours.
A woman’s body has been recovered from the ruins of a residential building in Kyiv where 12 people were killed in the Russian missile attack yesterday, mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram.
As European leaders and top defence officials from 31 Nato countries descend on Washington this week, all eyes will be focused firmly on Joe Biden, whose faltering performance at last month’s debate has added to concerns about the country that some Europeans already described as their “unpredictable ally”.
The US president has hoped that his leadership at the summit will rescue his campaign against Donald Trump amid concerns about his age and mental acuity. In a primetime interview on US television this week, he said: “And who’s gonna be able to hold Nato together like me?… We’re gonna have, I guess a good way to judge me, is you’re gonna have now the Nato conference here in the United States next week. Come listen. See what they say.”
But in private conversations, some European officials and diplomats have expressed concerns about his “shaky” public appearances and worries about the high likelihood of a second Trump term. Several foreign officials questioned whether Biden would remain in the race through next week.
“You can’t just put the genie back in the bottle,” said one European diplomat of the questions concerning Biden’s age. “It is one of the big issues [around the summit].”
You can read the full story by the Guardian’s global affairs correspondent, Andrew Roth, here:
Switzerland has expanded its sanctions against Russia to include additional measures recently taken up by the EU against Moscow over its war in Ukraine, the Swiss government has said. You can read the full press release here.
Pointing to a package of measures adopted by the EU against Russia on 24 June, the Swiss economy ministry said it would impose sanctions within its jurisdiction on a further 69 individuals and 86 entities.
These sanctions mainly target “businesspersons, propagandists, members of the armed forces and judiciary, persons responsible for the deportation of Ukrainian children” and members of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), it said.
The newly sanctioned entities include companies operating in Russia’s defence industry and firms in the financial and trade sectors involved in circumventing sanctions, it added. This meant that more than 2,200 individuals and entities are now subject to the sanctions listings, the ministry said. “This is in line with the EU,” the statement added.
The Swiss government said that it had placed an advertising ban on media outlets Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta “owing to Russia’s continuous propaganda and disinformation campaigns”. In contrast to the EU, these media are not subject to a broadcasting ban in Switzerland, the ministry said.
The Ohmatdyt children’s hospital treats children with serious conditions, such as cancer and kidney disease, and had about 670 child patients and 1,000 staff at the time of the missile attack on Kyiv yesterday, Danielle Bell, the head of the UN’s human monitoring mission, said.
“Staff had moved the children to a bunker yesterday morning when the air raid sirens first went off otherwise the casualties would have been much higher,” she told a press briefing in Geneva via video link from Kyiv.
The Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) presented new evidence on Tuesday it said proved that the hospital had been directly hit by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile.
“The experts’ conclusions are unequivocal – it was a direct strike,” the SBU said on Telegram, sharing images of a missile engine fragment it said was found at the site.
UN assessment suggests Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital was hit by Russian missile
A deadly strike on Kyiv’s Ohmatdyt children’s hospital – Ukraine’s biggest paediatrics facility – was likely caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile, the head of the UN’s human rights monitoring mission said.
Danielle Bell, head of mission for the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, said:
Analysis of the video footage and an assessment made at the incident site indicates a high likelihood that the children’s hospital suffered a direct hit rather than receiving damage due to an intercepted weapon system.
She said her team, who visited the site on Monday, could not make a final determination but that the missile appeared to have been launched by the Russian Federation.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said earlier today that it was a Nasams surface-to-air missile launched by Ukraine that hit the children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday. Ukrainian authorities said that Russia struck the hospital with a Kh-101 Kalibr missile.
Officials and emergency staff said it was not immediately clear how many doctors and patients – dead or alive – remained trapped under the rubble. At least two people reportedly died when a missile flattened part of the hospital on Monday.
In a post on X this morning, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that all the patients from Okhmatdyt have been transferred to other medical institutions.
The rescue operation after yesterday’s Russian missile attack continues.
As of now, 38 people have been reported dead, including four children. My condolences to all the families and friends affected by this tragedy.
190 people were injured and are receiving assistance. There… pic.twitter.com/T7kfLkggKx
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 9, 2024
Rescue workers have now reached the basement of the destroyed building of the Okhmatdyt national children’s specialised hospital in Kyiv, but five or six tonnes of building materials still need to be sifted and removed, the ministry of internal affairs told Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda this morning.
The strike largely destroyed the children’s hospital toxicology ward, where patients with severe kidney issues were being treated. Hundreds of rescue workers and volunteers joined the effort to clear the debris and search for survivors.
We have some more quotes from Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, who is in Moscow. He is visiting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and has made an address to the Indian diaspora on his first visit to Russia in five years.
“Every Indian considers Russia to be India’s friend in good and bad times,” Modi said.
“The commitment of our relationship has been tested multiple times, and it has emerged very strong each time,” the Indian prime minister said, adding that he appreciated his “dear friend” Putin for it.
The two leaders are scheduled to hold official talks in the Kremlin later on Tuesday, focusing on cheaper energy supplies and deeper economic and strategic ties.
Putin showed Modi around his suburban residence of Novo-Ogaryovo on Monday. In footage broadcast by the Kremlin, the Russian leader is seen driving Modi in a golf cart around the residence.
The timing of Modi’s visit (i.e. when the Nato summit is on) has no significance, a senior Indian foreign ministry official told Reuters last week. The source said the visit was part of a longstanding calendar of summits between the two countries (see post at 08.45 for more details).
Nato leaders will sit down in Washington this week to reveal the details of an aid package that is reported to include crucial air defence systems meant to protect Ukrainian cities from continuing Russian attacks. The summit starts off today (with preliminary sessions) and ends on Thursday.
Pjotr Sauer, a Russian affairs reporter for the Guardian, writes in this story that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has requested at least seven more Patriot batteries in addition to those already donated by the US, Germany and the Netherlands.
Observers expect Nato members to pledge of at least four additional Patriot missile batteries to Ukraine at the conclusion of this week’s summit.
The package put forward by Nato countries has been presented as “historic” and is seen by many as an attempt to “futureproof” continued aid to Ukraine – but it may not fully satisfy Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the Kremlin would closely follow this week’s summit because the alliance had declared Moscow its enemy and sought to defeat Russia. Peskov told reporters Russia considered Nato to be fully involved in the war in Ukraine.
The US will provide Poland with a second $2bn foreign military financing loan to buy defence equipment – such as F-35 aircraft and Patriot systems – from the US, the state department has announced. The state department highlighted that Warsaw spends 4% of its GDP on defence, the highest of all the 32 Nato member states, and said the loan agreement will “further strengthen” Nato’s eastern flank.
In a press statement, the US state department said:
The US government is providing up to $60m in foreign military financing to subsidise the interest rate cost of this loan, which will help accelerate Poland’s defence modernisation by supporting urgent procurements of defence articles and services from the United States.
Foreign military financing direct loans are a security cooperation tool reserved for some of our most important security cooperation partners. Loan proceeds will further advance Poland’s military modernisation effort across a wide range of capabilities, substantially contributing to strengthening the defence and deterrence of Nato’s eastern flank.
Zelenskiy attacks Modi meeting Putin on day of deadly Russian strikes across Ukraine
On the same day as Russia launched its deadly missile attack across Ukraine, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, toured his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, around his residence outside Moscow. The two leaders will hold official talks in the Kremlin today.
Putin embraced the Indian leader at his home at Novo-Ogaryovo, greeted him as his “dear friend” and said he was “very happy” to see him, according to an account by Russia’s Tass state news agency.
“Our official talks are tomorrow, while today in this comfortable, cozy setting we can probably discuss the same issues, but unofficially,” Tass quoted Putin as saying.
Referencing the visit, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a post on X that it undermined peace efforts to see Modi hug “the world’s most bloody criminal” on the same day so many civilians were killed across Ukraine by Russian strikes.
Gratitude to President Putin for hosting me at Novo-Ogaryovo this evening. Looking forward to our talks tomorrow as well, which will surely go a long way in further cementing the bonds of friendship between India and Russia. pic.twitter.com/eDdgDr0USZ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2024
Zelenskiy said:
It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day.
In Ukraine today, 37 people were killed, three of whom were children, and 170 were injured, including 13 children, as a result of Russia’s brutal missile strike.
A Russian missile struck the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine, targeting young cancer patients. Many were… pic.twitter.com/V1k7PEz2rJ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 8, 2024
Modi, who was re-elected for a third term in June, last visited Moscow in 2015. He has met Putin several times since at international summits and the leaders have spoken often by phone. Russia remains one of India’s most important trading partners, particularly on weapons and defence. Russia is a vital supplier of cut-price oil and weapons to India, but Moscow’s isolation from the West and growing ties with Beijing have affected its partnership with New Delhi. You can read more about the countries’ relationship and what we can expect from the meeting between the two leaders here.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. It has just gone past 10:30am in Kyiv.
The coming days will see a host of diplomatic activity, with a Nato summit in Washington and a UN security council meeting in New York – two gatherings that will be dominated by Monday’s Russian missile attacks on Ukraine.
The strikes were among the heaviest that the capital, Kyiv, has seen, reducing parts of the country’s main children’s hospital to rubble and forcing the evacuation of seriously ill patients.
During the deadly Russian missile strikes on Monday, 32,000 people, including almost 2,200 children, sought refuge in Kyiv’s metro stations, according to the Kyiv city state administration.
After the attack, the US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said that Washington has not changed its policy to allow Ukraine to strike deeper inside Russian territory with US-supplied weapons.
You can read more on Monday’s attack and the latest developments in the summary below:
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A day of mourning has been declared in Kyiv by mayor Vitali Klitschko after a daylight Russian missile barrage hit Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital and killed dozens around the country. All flags will be flown at half mast on municipal buildings throughout the city, he said in a Telegram post, and entertainment events will be cancelled. The strike was among the heaviest attacks on the capital since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. At least 41 people were killed across Ukraine, according to officials. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted on the Telegram messaging app: “Russia cannot help but know where its missiles are flying, and must fully answer for all its crimes: against people, against children, against humanity in general.”
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After the strikes, US president Joe Biden promised “new measures” to boost Ukraine’s air defences. “Russia’s missile strikes that today killed dozens of Ukrainian civilians and caused damage and casualties at Kyiv’s largest children’s hospital are a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. He was speaking on the eve of a Nato summit in Washington where leaders are expected to present a “historic” aid package for Ukraine, including air defences. Observers expect Nato members to pledge at least four additional Patriot missile batteries. The Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, will meet with Zelenskiy on Wednesday during the Nato summit in Washington, according to Johnson’s schedule.
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Western and UN leaders condemned Monday’s strikes, which saw Ukraine’s main treatment centre for children with cancer, take a direct missile hit. British prime minister Keir Starmer condemned “attacking innocent children” as the “most depraved of actions”, while the Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, called the missile strike a “war crime”. A spokesperson for António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said he strongly condemned the “particularly shocking” strikes against the children’s hospital and another medical facility. UN rights chief Volker Türk condemned the Russian strikes as “abominable”. France’s foreign ministry called the bombardment of a children’s hospital “barbaric” and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau described the attack as “abhorrent”. Russia has claimed the extensive missile damage in Kyiv was caused by Ukrainian air defence systems and that it was striking only military targets. The UN security council is to meet on Tuesday at the request of Britain, France, Ecuador, Slovenia and the US.
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One person was killed, while two power substations and an oil depot caught fire, after Ukraine launched tens of drones in attacks on several regions, Russian officials said on Tuesday. Russian air defence systems destroyed 38 drones, including 21 over the southern region of Rostov and seven over Kursk, both of which border Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said.
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Russia’s Astrakhan and Volgograd airports resumed flights after closing due to a Ukrainian drone attack, the Russian aviation authority said.
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China and Belarus started joint military exercises on Monday, the Belarusian and Chinese defence ministries said, holding the drills just few miles (km) from the border of Nato-member Poland. “Events taking place in the world are alarming, the situation is uneasy, therefore we are going to practice new forms and methods of performing tactical tasks,” Maj Gen Vadim Denisenko, chief of Belarusian special operations command, said. The manoeuvres, codenamed Falcon Assault, will go until 19 July and are taking place at a training ground near the city of Brest, in southwest Belarus, the ministry said.