The Russian Ministry of Defense has decided to refute the information about a hospital in Kyiv being hit by a missile.
According to the Russian military, the hospital was damaged by the work of the Ukrainian air defense and, more precisely, by an anti-aircraft missile fired by the Ukrainian military from an installation located in the city.
In practice, the Ministry of Defense of Russia confirms the massive missile attack on Ukraine, which, contrary to the practice of recent months, was carried out in broad daylight. According to the statement of the Russian military, the objects of the military industry of Ukraine and air bases of the armed forces of Ukraine were the targets of the attack, and the attack was a response to the attempted attacks on Russian objects from Ukraine.
The Russian military department says that Ukraine's statements about a missile attack on civilian objects do not correspond to reality.
"Numerous published photos and videos from Kyiv clearly confirm the fact of casualties due to the fall of a Ukrainian air defense missile fired from an anti-aircraft missile complex within the city,", the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The Russian Ministry also notes that "similar hysteria of the Kyiv regime" are intended to provide further funding for the Kiev regime and the continuation of the war to the last Ukrainian.
Official Kyiv has not commented on this statement.
The Security Service of Ukraine informed, however, that the attack on the large children's hospital in Kyiv, which is also the largest in Ukraine, was carried out with an X-101 missile. The service said it found debris with a serial number from the fuselage at the rear of the missile and part of the missile's control system.
After declaring an air alert twice this night over the entire territory of Ukraine, the Russian army attacked with missiles around 10 a.m. local time, and the first attack was followed by a second one with a second alert. The massive attack was carried out with 38 missiles - one "Dagger", "Zircon", 13 X-101 cruise missiles and 14 "Caliber". 30 of them were shot down, the Air Force of Ukraine reported.
The attack by the Russian army comes the day before the start of the annual NATO meeting in Washington. It has already become a practice before large and important meetings of the Western allies for Russia to carry out massive attacks on Ukrainian regions, including blaming them on the Ukrainian military. What is new in today's statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense is the linking of the missile strike not only with the military aid that Kiev receives from the allies, but also with the desire of the Ukrainian authorities, i.e. of Volodymyr Zelensky as president, to remain in power.
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko updated the data later on the number of dead and injured in this morning's attack by the Russian army on Kiev, which hit the largest children's hospital in the country - 96 people were injured, including three children. 52 were admitted to other hospitals of the city. Two adults, one a doctor, are among those who died on the spot at the "Ohmatdet" hospital.
The mayor of Lviv Andrey Sadovy also announced the name of the dead doctor, as she is from the city of Lviv - 30-year-old nephrologist Svetlana Lukyanchuk.
Seven children who were being treated there were injured in the attack on the children's hospital. A total of 17 people died in other areas of Kyiv, with seven deaths in the business center.
Klitschko specifically states that rescue operations are ongoing, and some of the injured are in serious condition.
In the capital city of Kyiv alone, more than 50 civilian objects were damaged today.