On Tuesday, rescuers searched the rubble at a children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine. The previous day, Russian missiles slammed into a wing of the facility. They also struck cities across the country in a massive daytime barrage.
The assault on the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital interrupted open-heart surgery and forced young cancer patients to take their treatments outdoors.
The 10-story hospital is Ukraine’s largest medical facility for children. Doctors there were caring for some 670 patients at the time of the attack, says Director General Volodymyr Zhovnir.
“The building where we conducted dialysis for children with kidney failure . . . is ruined entirely,” he says.
The attack was Russia’s heaviest bombardment of Kyiv in almost four months. It was also one of the deadliest of the war. Danielle Bell heads a United Nations team tracking human rights violations in Ukraine. She says at least two people died at the hospital. About 50 people were injured. Seven were children.
The casualty figure could have been much higher. However, workers took patients to a bunker when air raid sirens first sounded, Bell says.
Russia denies conducting the strike. Moscow insists its army doesn’t attack civilian targets in Ukraine. But there is evidence to the contrary, according to the United Nations and other analysts.
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed a Ukrainian air defense missile for destroying part of the hospital.
But Bell says video footage and findings onsite show the hospital “took a direct hit, rather than receiving damage due to an intercepted weapons system.”
Dr. Oleh Holubchenko was operating on a baby when he heard air sirens. He and his team continued the operation. “We couldn’t stop halfway through,” he says.
Kyiv city officials declared Tuesday an official day of mourning. Meanwhile, they work to restore the hospital’s power and water supply.
In response to the strike, Ukraine appeared to mount a larger-than-usual aerial attack Monday night. Ukrainian drones targeted six Russian regions.
Over the past year, Moscow has been honing tactics to defeat Ukraine’s air defense, says military analyst Alexander Kovalenko.
Military officials “have been experimenting with different kinds of rockets since 2023 to find the perfect combination,” he says.
Russian forces have also programmed missiles to change course mid-air, according to Kovalenko. He says that during Monday’s attack, a missile appeared to head west but then swerved back to strike Kyiv.
Russia’s onslaught Monday came on the eve of a NATO summit in Washington. Attending countries will likely pledge new support for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi is visiting Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is critical of the visit. He says, “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.”
Pray for those harmed by the war. Ask God to pour out His perfect peace on Ukraine and Russia.
