A children’s hospital in Ukraine was one of several sites severely damaged in a series of attacks across the country that left at least 31 people dead, officials said.
At least 19 people have been killed in a rare Russian daytime attack on the city in Kyiv. Two of them died at the Ohmatdy Children’s Hospital, one of the country’s leading paediatric centres.
The head of the military administration in the town of Kryvyi Rih said at least 10 people had been killed there. Three more people were killed 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 that 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.
Columns of smoke could be seen all over the capital Kyivwhile 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.
Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said that The cancer and intensive care wards had been hit by the explosionPhotos from the scene showed young children, some still hooked up to intravenous drips, sitting outside the hospital as it was evacuated.
Vitaly Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, spoke from hospital to Reuters news agency 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, Oleksandr Vilkul, 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 town. Of the latter, 10 were seriously injured, he said.
Kryvy Rih is Zelensky’s hometown and has been repeatedly attacked by Russia since launching 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.
Russia’s bombing coincides with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival in Moscow for a two-day state visit, where he is scheduled to talk on Monday with President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
Moscow has not yet commented on the attacks, but has previously insisted that its military forces do not target civilian infrastructure.
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 month with the most civilian deaths 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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