Missile strike on Kyiv children’s hospital sparks call for more air defenses

“Air defense is a theme that is discussed every day with our partners as something that must be strengthened,” he added.

The attack also prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to request a lifting of restrictions on the use of U.S. weapons to strike targets on Russian territory that have put key air bases out of reach. Zelensky said his military needs to be able to hit Russian planes where they are housed and get rearmed with new missiles.

The Biden administration so far is refusing to loosen those restrictions beyond allowing strikes in border areas where Russian forces are planning imminent attacks.

According to Ukrainian authorities, 33 out of 44 missiles were intercepted during Monday’s attack.

Those that penetrated the country’s air defenses brought death and fiery havoc, including in Kyiv, where two people were killed at the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, as well as in the cities of Dnipro and Kryvyi Rih. More than 70 people were wounded.

The barrage occurred just a day before NATO leaders gathered for a summit in Washington, where support for Ukraine is a central topic on the agenda. Although the United States and some other NATO countries have refused to fast-track membership in the alliance for Ukraine, many have signed bilateral security agreements with Kyiv promising ongoing aid.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed Monday that it carried out a massive air assault on Ukrainian cities, but senior officials in Moscow continued to insist that their targets were strictly military and they denied responsibility for the strike on the hospital.

Investigators from the Ukraine’s State Security Service, or SBU, said that the hospital had been hit by a Russian Kh-101 missile. Video and photos of Monday’s attack appeared to show a Kh-101 missile striking the building.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the destruction of the hospital a “tragedy” but blamed it on a NATO-provided NASAMS missile — an assertion for which she provided no evidence.

“Attempts by the Zelensky regime to use the tragedy with the children’s hospital in Kyiv for propaganda confirm its inhuman nature,” Zakharova said. She added that the Ukrainians “deliberately place air defense systems in residential neighborhoods, using civilians as ‘human shields.’ ”

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov meanwhile insisted that Moscow does not strike civilian targets — though countless residential apartment buildings, hospitals, theaters and other civilian structures have been damaged and destroyed since Russia’s invasion in 2022. In some cases, entire cities have been laid waste.

“I urge you to be guided by the statement of the Ministry of Defense, which absolutely rules out that the strike was on civilian targets and states that it was the fall of an antimissile,” Peskov said.

Ignat, of the Ukraine air force press service, said Russia has modernized its missiles and drones to make them less detectable, and that Russia had multiplied its use of ballistic missiles over the past three months. Some missiles have recently been equipped with radar and thermal traps, he said.

“During today’s strike, the cruise missiles flew at extremely low altitudes, combat work on them was carried out in some places at a height of up to 50 meters, which of course can also lead to terrible consequences on the ground,” Ignat wrote in a detailed Facebook post Monday.

The attack on Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, a flagship cancer center, killed a doctor and another adult and destroyed a dialysis unit. Eight children were hospitalized with injuries. Many other patients were evacuated to other hospitals in Kyiv and some were awaiting transfer abroad.

Three bodies were uncovered Tuesday morning from the debris of a residential building that was also hit in Monday’s attack, bringing the total death toll in the capital to 11.

After Monday’s attack, the White House reiterated that it would not further loosen restrictions on Ukraine striking targets within Russian territory using U.S.-provided weapons. John Kirby, a spokesman, said that U.S. weapons may only be used to strike border areas inside Russia where Moscow’s forces may be preparing imminent attacks on Ukraine.

Zelensky said that his nation urgently needed more than sympathy from its backers and to be cleared to strike Russian military aircraft on their bases.

“Mere concern does not stop the terror. Condolences are not a weapon,” Zelensky wrote in a statement Monday. “We need to shoot down Russian missiles. We must destroy Russian combat aircraft where they are based. Strong steps must be taken to eliminate any security deficit. … Our partners are capable of making this happen. Decisions are needed as soon as possible.