Condemnation Of Russia Mounts As Ukraine Counts Toll Of Attack On Children's Hospital

KYIV -- International condemnation grew as the death toll mounted at a children’s hospital in Kyiv that was hit during a series of massive Russian air strikes, which U.S. President Joe Biden called a "horrific reminder of Russia's brutality."

A day after at least 43 people -- including a staff member of and a visitor to the Okhmatdyt children's hospital -- were killed in the deadliest wave of attacks in recent months, the Kremlin on July 9 denied that it had targeted civilian targets and blamed anti-missile fire for the destruction of the hospital, but analysts and several officials rejected Moscow's denial.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky on July 9 said he had summoned Russia's ambassador to Prague, asserting that those who carried out the attack were the "dregs of humanity."

“While the useful idiots are rambling about peace with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, he is sending missiles to a children's hospital. I'm currently heading to the NATO summit to push for a long-term strategy to contain Russia. One cannot yield to aggression,” he added.

“Ukraine’s success as a strong, independent, successful country is the best possible rebuke to the aggression that continues to be committed by Putin and Russia against Ukraine, including just 24 hours ago an attack on the largest children’s hospital in Kyiv,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Washington in a joint news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.

At the United Nations, Joyce Msuya, the UN's acting undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told an emergency Security Council meeting on July 9 that "these incidents are part of a deeply concerning pattern of systemic attacks harming health care and other civilian infrastructure across Ukraine."

Russian Missiles Target Ukraine, Striking Children's Hospital In Kyiv

"Intentionally directing attacks against a protected hospital is a war crime and perpetrators must be held to account," she said.

Nicolas de Riviere, France's ambassador to the UN, labeled the attack a "further entry on a list of war crimes" and said Moscow must be held accountable.

Even remarks from China, a close ally of Russia, were seen by many observers as rare veiled criticism of the Kremlin.

Ukrainian Moms Recall Attack On Kyiv Children's Hospital

China's deputy ambassador to the UN, Geng Shuan, said that fighting in the Ukraine war has "intensified and there have been brutal attacks from time to time that have claimed many victims. China is deeply concerned about this."

Ukrainian military expert Oleksandr Musiyenko told Current Time, the Russian-language TV and digital network run by RFE/RL, on July 9 that there was "sufficient evidence" showing the children's hospital was "directly and deliberately" hit by a Russian Kh-101 subsonic cruise missile.

"We see that Russia, if we talk about massive missile attacks on Ukraine, usually takes a pause -- one or 1 1/2 months, then accumulates the missiles, and after that resumes the shelling before another pause," he said of the rare attack in broad daylight.

"The Russian side often uses drones accompanying the missiles to video record the moment of the hitting the target and the aftermath for propaganda purposes.... Also, in daytime, residents of the [Ukrainian] capital are at workplaces and other public sites and the psychological impact on them is bigger," he added.

Hospital Director Volodymyr Zhovnir told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that doctors had "done everything" to ensure the treatment of critical patients as they seek temporary spaces for departments that are key to helping children with serious illnesses.

"The most important thing is that we have saved our people and specialists. Unfortunately, one of our best specialists was killed, who took the children to the bomb shelter and returned to check whether there were children in the empty room or not."

"The team has survived, and these teams are now with these children. They are working in other locations, in other areas, and doing everything possible to ensure that the assistance does not stop."

Ukraine's cabinet approved 100 million hryvnyas ($2.5 million) from a state budget reserve fund to help rebuild the hospital, Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal said.

Ukraine appeared to follow through on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's vow to retaliate, launching over three dozen drones overnight on July 9 and shelling several areas that killed several people inside Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on July 9 that a total of 38 drones in five regions had been intercepted, including 21 in Rostov, seven in Kursk, five in Astrakhan, three in Belgorod, and two in Voronezh.

Local media reported that airports in the southern Astrakhan and Volgograd regions had restricted flights following the drone attacks.

Ukrainian shelling in Russia's Belgorod region in the early hours of July 9 killed four people and wounded 20, according to regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. He added that the attack caused power outages and damaged 60 houses and 160 apartments.

In Volgograd, an oil depot and an electrical substation caught fire as a result of falling drone debris, according to regional Governor Andrei Bocharov.

The UN's human rights monitoring mission said its assessment of the strike in Kyiv "indicates a high likelihood that the children's hospital suffered a direct hit rather than receiving damage due to an intercepted weapon system."

"Russia’s missile strikes that...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 wrote on X.

"It is critical that the world continues to stand with Ukraine at this important moment and that we not ignore Russian aggression," he said, adding that during this week's NATO summit in Washington, he will meet with Zelenskiy "to make clear our support for Ukraine is unshakable."

SEE ALSO: UN Security Council To Discuss 'Massive' Russian Attack That Killed Dozens In Ukraine

Moscow has routinely denied targeting residences, schools, hospitals, and other civilian structures despite frequent bombings that suggest otherwise.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air attacks near Kyiv were aimed at "Ukrainian military industry facilities and Ukrainian Air Force bases," adding that "the strike's objectives were achieved."

The Washington-based nonprofit Institute for the Study Of War (ISW) countered Moscow's claims, saying video evidence "clearly shows a single missile flying at a sharp downward trajectory before making contact with the hospital building."

Kyiv's Civil Defense Department said on July 9 that the body of a missing boy had been retrieved from an apartment building hit during the missile attacks, which also partially destroyed another hospital and hit a business center in the capital as well.

RFE/RL cannot independently confirm reports by either side of battlefield developments in areas of the heaviest fighting.

With reporting by Current Time's Aleksei Aleksandrov and dpa