Russia and various social media posts claimed that Ukraine itself attacked the children's hospital in Kiev. We analyzed the images. It is clear from them that the statements in the publications are false.
On Monday, Russian missiles hit several targets in Ukraine. About 40 people died in the attacks. In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the large children's hospital "Okhmatdit" suffered a direct missile hit. Footage has gone viral of parents carrying babies and children out of the hospital in their arms. One photo gained enormous popularity - of children with cancer receiving chemotherapy on the street next to the destroyed hospital.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied responsibility for the attack, saying Russian armed forces only attacked military sites and Ukrainian air force bases.
After the attack, dozens of posts appeared on social networks claiming that Russia did not carry out the attack, but that Ukraine actually attacked the hospital. A post on the X social network claimed that debris from a Ukrainian air defense missile was found at the site of the attack. Another post
he also claims to present evidence that the missile that hit the hospital was provided to Ukraine by Britain.
Claim: Ukraine alone attacked the children's hospital in Kyiv.
Fact check: False.
A cross-check of the images in one of the posts claiming that shrapnel found near the hospital proved the missile was not Russian reveals that the images are actually old. Some of them first appeared at least two years ago.
At the same time, the Ukrainian armed forces also released photos from the site of the attack, which clearly show that the missile that hit the hospital was a Russian-made X-101. The fragments seen in these images also show a serial number from which the model of the missile can be easily traced. We compared these photos with another image published by the news agency "Associated Press". The details in both images match. "Evidence has already been found at the scene of the tragedy - fragments of the rear part of the X-101 missile with a serial number,", the Ukrainian Armed Forces wrote in their official Telegram profile.
According to the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the X-101 missile is a stealth missile designed to engage air defense systems by flying at low altitudes to avoid radar systems .
And analysis by Bellingcat, which used social media footage and a 3D model of the missile, as well as experts such as Fabian Hoffmann, a PhD student at the University of Oslo specializing in missile technology, also pointed to the munition as a Russian X-wing cruise missile 101.
Russia blames Ukraine
Russia has denied that it carried out
the attack on the hospital and started blaming Ukraine instead. In a post on X and Telegram social networks, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the attacks were in response to "Kiev's attempts to damage Russian energy infrastructure and economy". In the post, the ministry denied attacking civilian objects, adding that "numerous published photos and footage from Kiev clearly confirm that the destruction was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile.
Experts believe such incidents could have long-term consequences for both sides, affecting the scope of sanctions or the amount of support the international community imposes on or provides to the warring parties.
"Whatever we see presented by both sides, we have to be very careful. If there is no independent team to investigate these incidents, I think it is very difficult to get to the bottom of what exactly is happening," Marina Miron, a researcher at the "Military Studies" department, told DV. at King's College London.
However, this is not the first time that Russia has tried to accuse Ukraine of striking civilian infrastructure in the country on its own. Moscow has repeatedly used disinformation to push the narrative that such strikes were the work of Ukrainian air defenses and continues to maintain that the Russian military does not fire on civilian targets. However, there is evidence to the contrary for a number of strikes that Russia has carried out on civilian infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.