Condemning the daytime attacks, the UN’s top aid coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, said that several cities were targeted, including the capital, Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih and Pokrovsk.
The attacks happened just “as people were starting their day. Dozens of people have been killed and injured,” said Ms. Brown, who reported heavy damage to the children’s hospital in the centre of Kyiv.
In a post on X, UN chief António Guterres strongly condemned the missile attacks while High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk deplored the assault on what are densely populated areas.
Any strike on a children’s hospital is an “abominable” act, the rights chief said, adding that “those with influence must do everything to ensure these attacks stop immediately
‘Unconscionable’ strike
“It is unconscionable that children are killed and injured in this war. Under international humanitarian law, hospitals have special protection. Civilians must be protected,” Ms. Brown insisted.
The latest bloody development follows an alert from UN human rights office monitors that May saw the highest number of civilian casualties caused by Russian attacks in nearly a year.
According to the report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), between 1 March and 31 May, at least 436 civilians were killed and a further 1,760 injured. Casualties included six media workers, 26 healthcare employees, five aid workers and 28 emergency services workers.
The UN report added that the majority (91 per cent) of the casualties were in territory controlled by Ukraine and nine per cent in Russian-occupied territory.
In the same reporting period, the Russian authorities reported that 91 civilians were killed and 455 injured in Russia from attacks launched by Ukrainian armed forces, primarily in Belgorod, Briansk and Kursk regions.
More than 20 killed
According to reports, at least 20 people were killed in Monday’s attacks, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that more than 40 missiles had been fired.
In addition to the Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, other public infrastructure was also damaged, along with commercial and residential buildings in cities including Dnipro, Kramatorsk, Kryviy Rih, Kyi and Pokrovsk.
#NotATarget
Amid video footage posted online showing volunteers trying to clear the rubble and search for survivors at the hospital in Kyiv, the UN Children’s Fund’s top official in Ukraine, Munir Mammadzade said that the agency was providing emergency water and hygiene supplies to the facility, hours after the incident.
“Russia’s full-scale invasion continues impacting children disproportionately,” he said in a post on X. “We have received horrific reports of a children’s hospital in Kyiv extensively damaged in an attack this morning, with reports of casualties. Children are #NotATarget and must always be protected.”
Damage caused by the morning missile attack in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, when a children’s hospital was hit.