Ukraine children's hospital took direct hit in Russian strike: UN

Kyiv: The children's hospital in Kyiv must have sustained a direct hit from a Russian airstrike, the United Nations said on Tuesday. UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine chief Danielle Bell described the Monday strike as one of the most egregious attacks that was ever seen since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Agence France-Presse reported.

A Russian attack across Ukraine on Monday had killed more than three dozen people on Monday. The attack via a barrage of missiles destroyed the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv, which has been critically totally condemned by the international community. The air operation was during the daytime, which was rare.

AFP reported that dozens of hospital staff and rescue workers dug through the debris in search of survivors.

However, Russia did not take responsibility for the attack on the hospital and claimed that the extensive missile damage in Kyiv was due to the Ukrainian air defense systems.

However, Bell, the UN official, told reporters that video footage showing the Russian attack directly impacted the hospital.

The Okhmatdyt pediatric hospital treats children, and it is a specialist facility for the treatment of serious medical conditions such as cancer, kidney disease, etc. Families across the country bring children to this hospital, Bell said.

She continued that analysis of the video footage and the assessment of the attack site suggests that there is a high likelihood that the hospital suffered a direct hit, instead being blasted by a defense weapon system. She said that the incident needed to be investigated.

She said that at the time of the attack, 670 child patients and more than a thousand medical staff were present.