Western leaders and diplomats expressed outrage after Russian missiles destroyed a children’s hospital in Kyiv, amid a rare daytime attack on Ukrainian cities which killed at least 20 on Monday.
Russia fired dozens of missiles at cities across Ukraine in a massive barrage that killed at least 31 people and smashed into Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, trapping victims under the rubble, UN officials said.
Municipal officials said earlier that at least seven people had been killed in the strikes on Kyiv.
Britain’s Foreign Minister David Lammy condemned the hospital strike as “an appalling attack on Ukrainian civilians”.
Lammy, appointed Britain’s top diplomat last Friday after Labour’s general election victory, added: “The UK’s support to Ukraine is iron-clad. We must hold those responsible for Putin’s illegal war to account.”
The French Foreign Ministry called the attacks “barbaric”.
“Deliberately targeting a children’s hospital can be added to the list of war crimes for which Russia will have to account,” the ministry said, as volunteers and medics searched through the rubble of the Okhmatdyt hospital.
“This is what Putin’s … willingness to negotiate and desire for peace look like,” the German Foreign Office echoed.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell reiterated an urgent call for more air defense for Ukraine.
“Russia keeps ruthlessly targeting Ukrainian civilians … Ukraine needs air defense now. All responsible for Russian war crimes will be held to account,” Borrell posted on X.
The UN harshly condemned Monday’s wave of deadly Russian strikes across Ukraine, saying “dozens of people have been killed and injured”.
“It is unconscionable that children are killed and injured in this war,” Denise Brown, humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said in a statement.
“Under international humanitarian law, hospitals have special protection. Civilians must be protected,” she added.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the damage was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile, insisting that its forces had struck only their “intended” defense industry and military targets.
