Ukraine mourns 41 dead in deadliest strike by Putin’s forces on children’s hospital

Joe Biden said deadly Russian missile strikes in Ukraine, including on the main children’s hospital in Kyiv, were “a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality.”

“Russia’s missile strikes that today killed dozens of Ukrainian civilians and caused damage and casualties at Kyiv’s largest children’s hospital are a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality,” Mr Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

The US president said Washington and its Nato allies will be announcing this week new measures to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences.

“It is critical that the world continues to stand with Ukraine at this important moment and that we not ignore Russian aggression,” Mr Biden said.

His remarks come as president Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would retaliate and called on Kyiv’s Western allies to give a firm response to the attack.

A fire broke out at a power substation in Russia’s Rostov region after Ukraine launched “tens” of drones overnight, Vasily Golubev, governor of the southern Russia region that borders Ukraine said today.

“As a result of an air attack in the Rodionovo-Nesvetaysky district, two transformers caught fire at a power substation,” Golubev said, adding that air defence systems destroyed tens of drones.

Many more were left injured on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital Kyiv.

Svitolina played with a black ribbon on her white top throughout the match on No.2 Court, with the 21st seed triumphing over Xinyu Wang 6-2, 6-1 after a fine performance.

And as emergency crews search the rubble for casualties back in Ukraine after the latest Russian barrage, Svitolina opened up on court about the difficulty in playing under the circumstances.

”For sure it was a good performance from my side,” Svitolina said, acknowledging her team courtside, including her partner and fellow player Gael Monfils. “It’s a very difficult day today for Ukrainian people.”

At least 41 civilians have been killed as Russia blasted the main children’s hospital in Kyiv with a missile in broad daylight yesterday, marking its deadliest wave of air strikes for months.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 100 buildings were damaged in the wave of attacks, including the children’s hospital and a maternity centre in Kyiv, children’s nurseries and a business centre and homes.

“The Russian terrorists must answer for this,” he wrote. “Being concerned does not stop terror. Condolences are not a weapon.”

Damage was reported in the central cities of Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro and two eastern cities, Ukraine’s interior ministry said.

Ukraine’s air defences shot down 30 of 38 missiles, the air force said.

An online video showed a missile falling towards the children’s hospital followed by a large explosion. The location of the video was verified from visible landmarks. The Russian forces likely used the Kh-101 cruise missile, said the Security Service of Ukraine, identifying the projectile.

Kyiv’s military authorities said 27 people had died in the capital, including three children, and 82 were wounded in the main missile volley and a strike that came two hours later.

Parents holding babies walked in the street outside the hospital, dazed and sobbing after the rare daylight aerial attack. Windows had been smashed and panels ripped off, and hundreds of Kyiv residents were helping to clear debris.

“It was scary. I couldn’t breathe, I was trying to cover (my baby). I was trying to cover him with this cloth so that he could breathe,” Svitlana Kravchenko, 33, said.

Russia is seeking deflection from responsibility for killing civilians in Ukraine, the Amnesty International said after a Russian missile tore through Ohmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, sending hundreds of patients out on the streets.

“The destruction of hospitals, as well as residential buildings and essential infrastructure are abhorrent, and any acts that target or disregard civilians must be unequivocally condemned. The evidence now widely available and some of it verified by Amnesty International experts, including videos of the strike that destroyed the Ohmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, consistently suggests that the hospital was hit by an inbound Russian cruise missile,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

She added: “Russian attempts to put the blame on Ukrainian air defence display a callous audacity, which seeks to deflect from Russia’s responsibility for killing civilians and destroying medical facilities.”

“The chilling images we have seen from the sites of two rounds of attacks in Kyiv today are a reminder of the cruelty of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The number of civilians killed across the country is growing all the time, including in other missile strikes today, on Kryvyi Rih, Pokrovsk, Dnipro, Kramatorsk, and Slovyansk,” the top human rights body’s regional director said.

“These brutal acts will not stop until those committing crimes under international law know that they will be held individually responsible. This tragic day must serve as yet another urgent alarm for the entire international community, that immediate and effective action is needed for justice to be served,” she said.

Chinese soldiers have landed in Belarus to take part in “anti-terror” military drills on the border with Poland.

Belarus’ Ministry of Defence said that the 11-day “joint anti-terrorist exercise” would start on Monday and “improve coordination between Belarusian and Chinese units”. Chinese media said the exercises would be held in Brest, on the Polish border.

Photographs from the Baranovichi air base on Saturday, about 100 miles south-west of Minsk, showed Chinese soldiers wearing forage caps as they unloaded their equipment from a single Xian Y-20, a heavy strategic airlifter nicknamed “Chubby Girl”.