At least 31 people were killed as Russian missiles blasted cities across Ukraine on Monday. Strikes hit and destroyed a children’s hospital, drawing international condemnation.
ADVERTISEMENTRussia launched multiple ballistic and cruise missiles against Ukraine on Monday, with explosions felt and heard across Kyiv.
Officials say at least 31 people were killed in different locations during the attack on the capital as local residents joined emergency crews to search for survivors in the rubble.
A children’s hospital in Kyiv was among sites hit, according to a post on X by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Footage posted on social media from the scene showed Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital largely destroyed on site.
Local mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that two people were killed, while 16 people, seven of them children, were among those injured.
Russia claimed that the hospital was hit following failure from a Ukrainian defence system – a claim which Ukrainian officials strongly deny.
Zelenskyy has initiated an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response to the strike, which he said amounted to an «act of terror.»
The attack drew international criticism, with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof calling it an example of the «ruthless cruelty of Putin’s regime.»
Newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the attack amounted to the «most depraved of actions» before committing his support for Ukraine.
Attacks across Ukraine
Another seven people were killed at a business centre in the capital’s Solomianskyi district, Klitschko said.
Russia hit the capital using Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, one of the most advanced Russian weapons, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
The Kinzhal flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it hard to intercept. Buildings in the Ukrainian capital shook from the blasts, according to eyewitnesses and domestic outlets.
The Kyiv city administration reported falling debris, likely from intercepted missiles, in the Solomianskyi, Dniprovskyi, Holosiivskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts of the capital.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermal, said many people were in the streets at the time of the attack.
Klitschko wrote at 10 am local time that air defence forces were operational in the suburbs of Kyiv.
«Do not ignore the air raid alarm. Take care of your own safety, stay in shelters … and do not obstruct the work of air defence,» Kyiv police wrote in a warning message.
At least 10 people were killed in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, with another 47 injured, and further deaths have been confirmed in Pokrovsk and Dnipro in the Donetsk oblast.
The attack came on the eve of a crucial three-day NATO summit in Washington.
ADVERTISEMENTThe meeting will aim to set out the allies’ support strategy for Ukraine in the coming months, as Kyiv endures the hardest phase of the conflict yet and remains under pressure across the whole eastern front.
