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The missile attack on Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital “Okhmatdet” in Kyiv, which took place on July 8, became the subject of mutual Russian-Ukrainian accusations. The Ukrainian side claims that the Russian Armed Forces used an X-101 cruise missile on the hospital, while the Russians counterargue that the destruction in Kyiv was caused by “the fall of a Ukrainian air defense missile”.
Reminder: on the morning of July 8, Russian troops launched mass attacks on Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine. 44 people died, including 4 minors. 190 people were wounded, and about 100 of them were hospitalized. As a result of the attack on the “Okhmatdet” children’s hospital, two people were killed, 32 others were wounded, and 8 children were hospitalized. All patients were transferred to other hospitals. “Okhmatdet” (Охматдет – Охрана материнства и детства), is the leading and largest children’s hospital in Ukraine, specializing in the treatment of cancer and complex congenital pathologies.
Fact Investigation Platform has studied the statements made by the two countries, and the presented evidence according to which the Russian armed forces used cruise missiles on the civilian hospital in Kyiv.
On the morning of July 8, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated: “Russian terrorists are massively shelling various cities of Ukraine with rockets: Kyiv, Dnipro, Krivoy Rog, Slavyansk, Kramatorsk. More than 40 missiles of different types. Residential buildings, infrastructures, children’s hospital were damaged.” Zelensky also emphasized that Russia cannot ignore where its missiles are flying, and must fully answer for all its crimes against people, children, humanity in general.
Later, the Security Service of Ukraine, presenting evidence stated that Russia hit the “Okhmatdet” hospital with a military X-101 cruise missile. The agency has published photos of the fragments of the rocket, which they claim were found at the site of the shelling.
In particular, the employees of the security service found the fragments of the rocket body with serial number.
The Ministry of Defense of Russia counterclaimed that the destruction in Kyiv was caused by “the fall of a Ukrainian air defense missile.” According to the source, on the morning of July 8, in response to attempts by the “Kyiv regime” to damage Russian energy and economy facilities, the Russian army carried out a group attack on the military industry facilities of Ukraine and the aviation bases of the Ukrainian armed forces. “The objectives of the strike have been achieved. The designated targets were hit,” stated the message of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary of the Russian President, continued the claim declaring that the Ukrainian air defense missile hit the hospital. “Obviously, an anti-ballistic missile was improperly used that ended up in the hospital. Russia does not hit civilian targets in Ukraine,” Peskov said.
Programmer and entrepreneur Grigory Bakunov, who lives not far from the “Okhmatdet” children’s hospital in Kyiv, presented on the air of Alexander Plyushev’s Breakfast Show how loud those rockets were. “They say they were Patriot air defense missiles, and as someone who lives in the center, I can say that anyone within a 1.5 km radius can tell the difference between a cruise missile and a Patriot. Their sound is completely different. From the sound of what fell, we can definitely say that it was a cruise missile. Over these years, we have learned to distinguish the sounds of rockets, and when a person stirs sugar in a cup of tea at home, they hear the sound and say, ‘Look, the winged one just flew,'” said Bakunov.
“The experts’ conclusions are clear: this was a targeted attack by the Russians. This is evidenced not only by the fragments of the missile found at the site of the impact, but also by the analysis of the data of the trajectory, the nature of the damage, as well as a large number of video and photo materials,” the Security Service of Ukraine stated on July 9.
On July 9, at the extraordinary session of the UN Security Council convened at the request of Great Britain, France, Ecuador, Slovenia and the USA, Russia’s missile attack on the “Okhmadet” children’s hospital in Kyiv was described as a war crime.
The permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, reiterated the position of the official Moscow: the hospital was hit by a Ukrainian air defense missile.
In turn, during his speech, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the UN, Sergíy Kyslytsya, showed the participants of the meeting photos that depict the cruise missile flying to the hospital and its trajectory.
The hypothesis about the winged X-101 missile was also confirmed by Fabian Hoffmann, an expert at the University of Oslo, who deals with missile technologies, in an interview to the BBC. He described the claims of the Russian side that the Kyiv hospital may have been damaged by the launch of Ukrainian air defense missiles as “complete nonsense.”
Thus, although official Moscow is trying to claim that the hospital was hit by Ukrainian air defense missiles, there are many videos, photos and testimonies on the internet showing that they were cruise missiles with their specific sound whistles.
Syuzanna Hambardzumyan
