At least 29 other people were killed after Russia introduced a barrage of missiles aimed at what it called defense sites across Ukraine, and a missile hit a children’s hospital in the capital Kyiv, according to reports. Ukrainian officials.
More than 60 people were injured in the latest attacks, which targeted at least two medical facilities, electrical substations and apartment buildings.
Hundreds of people ran toward the clear rubble of the children’s hospital, where windows had been smashed and panels torn off. Parents carrying their young children walked down the street, dazed and sobbing after the rare airstrike in broad daylight.
“It’s scary. Maybe I can’t breathe, I’m looking to cover him [my baby]. I’m looking to cover him with this cloth so he can breathe,” Svitlana Kravchenko, 33, told Reuters news agency.
The city government said another 10 people were killed and at least 35 wounded in the attack on Kyiv. In Kryvy Rih, another 11 people were killed and 40 others wounded in what Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul called a “massive missile attack. “
There was no immediate word from patients at kyiv’s Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, Ukraine’s largest, while four other people died after another medical center in kyiv was attacked.
The kyiv city administration reported falling debris, possibly from intercepted missiles, in some areas of kyiv, causing fires. Thick plumes of smoke rose from several districts of kyiv.
Three other people were killed in the eastern city of Pokrovsk, where missiles hit a commercial facility, the Donetsk regional governor said.
One user died in the city of Dnipropetrovsk, authorities said.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest producer of personal forces, said three substations and force networks were damaged in the capital. The country’s network of forces has already been damaged following targeted Russian airstrikes that began in March.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 40 missiles of other types hit apartment buildings and public infrastructure in five cities: Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
“It is very important that the world is not silent about this now and that everyone sees what Russia is and what it is doing,” he said on social media.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermal, said the attack occurred at a time when many other people were on the streets of the city.
The attacks come as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made an unscheduled stop in Beijing on Monday and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss a possible peace deal in Ukraine.
A three-day NATO summit begins Tuesday in Washington, D. C. , discussing tactics to secure the alliance’s unwavering support for Ukraine.
In the sunlight strikes, Russian forces used Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, one of their most complex weapons, Ukraine’s air force said on Monday. The Kinzhal flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it difficult to intercept. The city’s buildings shook the explosions.
The Russians used cruise, ballistic, airborne and guided missiles in a combined attack on Ukrainian cities, Ukrainian air said, adding that it shot down 30 of the 38 missiles.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Ukraine still lacked sufficient air defenses and suggested its allies temporarily deliver more systems to help its cities and infrastructure in opposition to normal Russian airstrikes.
Oleksandr Kraiev, director of Ukraine’s Prism program in North America, said the Russian rockets managed to penetrate the skies over the capital because Moscow used “several complexes to disrupt our anti-aircraft formula [by attacking] smaller targets. “
“As we see, for the first time, after dozens of attempts, Russia attacked medical facilities again. . . In addition, it attacked several residential buildings and almost 20 apartments were destroyed, only in Kiev,” he told Al Jazeera. .
Separately, Zelensky met with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Monday, his workplace reported on Telegram.
No one can achieve long-term peace in Ukraine without Kyiv’s contribution, Tusk said after signing a security agreement with Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president said kyiv would request a United Nations assembly on the country’s security to discuss the latest attacks.
According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, the attack on kyiv is one of the most intense since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.
In June, at least 12 people, in addition to 4 children, lost their lives due to Russian attacks in other cities in Ukraine.
Russia has continuously denied targeting civilians. The Defense Ministry said its forces had targeted commercial defense sites and air bases, claiming the damage in Kyiv was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile.