Director of missile-hit Ukraine children’s hospital recalls ‘real hell’

The director of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, hit on Monday by a deadly missile strike blamed on Russia, has said the attack was “real hell”.

“Children and adults screamed in fear, wounded from pain” in Kyiv’s Ohmadyt hospital, Volodymyr Zhovnir told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

He said more than 1,200 patients and personnel were in the hospital at the time and three heart surgeries were being carried out. Two adults were killed and more than 300 people injured, including children, he added.

On Tuesday, Ukraine published photos of what it said were recovered fragments of a Russian cruise missile that hit the hospital in the capital.

Russia claimed the blast was caused by a misfiring Ukrainian air defence missile, but the UN said it was highly likely Moscow was behind the attack – a conclusion shared by analysts who spoke to BBC Verify.

The attack was globally condemned, with US President Joe Biden saying it was a “horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality”.

Mr Biden, who is hosting a Nato summit in Washington on Tuesday, also vowed to strengthen Kyiv’s air defences.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is attending the summit, said: “We are fighting for more air defence systems for Ukraine… We are fighting for more planes.”

At least 46 people – including 33 in Kyiv – were killed across Ukraine in a wave of Russian missile and drone strikes on Monday, local officials said.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko declared 9 July as a day of mourning in the city.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.