The Ukraine hopes for more international support after the worst Russian airstrike on Kiev this year. “We continue to work to protect our cities and communities from Russian terror,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyi wrote on the social network X, thanking all foreign politicians who were preparing new steps to protect Ukraine.

The United Nations The airstrike was deemed a war crime at an emergency meeting of the Security Council. “I would like to remind this Council that hospitals enjoy special protection under international humanitarian law. Deliberate attacks on a protected hospital are a war crime and the perpetrators must be held accountable,” Joyce Msuya, acting head of the UN emergency agency OCHA, told the UN Security Council in New York.

Because Russia in World Security Council Because the country has a veto, action by the most powerful UN body against Moscow’s aggression is ruled out. At the same time, NATO’s anniversary summit in Washington will focus on how to better help Ukraine.

More than forty deaths nationwide

At last count, the death toll in the Ukrainian capital after the Monday morning attack rose to 31, with 117 injured. It was also serious with at least 32 dead Kiev last met shortly before New Year’s Eve. Nationwide, Ukraine has suffered at least 42 deaths and 190 injuries as a result of the latest wave of attacks.

Today, Kiev was scheduled to observe a day of mourning. Rescue work on the Ochmatdyt (Mother and Child Protection) large children’s hospital with its completely destroyed facade was halted after more than 24 hours. Hundreds of rescue workers, medics and volunteers searched for victims in the rubble until they were exhausted. On Monday, rescued children with cancer were sitting on their mothers’ laps on infusion machines in the street. Two adults were killed in the clinic, including a doctor.

Moscow contradicts version of hit

Ukraine assumes a targeted attack. According to information from Kiev, video footage shows the unhindered approach of a Ch-101 cruise missile to the building. The Russian military, on the other hand, speaks without evidence of the incorrect use of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov demanded that the public adhere to this version. “We do not carry out attacks on civilian targets. Attacks are carried out only against critical infrastructure objects or military targets,” he said, according to the Tass agency. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also claimed that the hospital was hit by a Ukrainian Nasams anti-aircraft missile.

Russia On Monday, Kiev, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro and other cities were hit with nearly 40 rockets and cruise missiles. The children’s hospital was directly hit by a Russian Ch-101, according to preliminary research by the UN Human Rights Office. Experts reviewed video footage and conducted direct on-site assessments of the damage, said Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Observer Mission in Ukraine. She called it “one of the most egregious attacks we have seen since the invasion began.”

All 600 children treated there were transferred to other health facilities. The hospital, which treated many children with cancer and other serious illnesses, was badly damaged and could no longer be used without major repairs. The attack was sharply criticized internationally. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) called it a war crime. Germany will admit a number of sick Ukrainian children for further treatment.

Seven people, including three children, were killed in the airstrike in a destroyed residential building near the clinic in Kiev. A boy was found dead there overnight. Two people died in an unspecified industrial facility. Unofficial reports suggest attacks on a defense company. Nine people died in another partially destroyed hospital and seven people died in a business center.

Ukraine sends swarms of combat drones to Russia

Ukraine responded to heavy Russian rocket fire with more drone attacks. Swarms of drones reached areas in Russia. A tank farm of the Lukoil oil company in the Volgograd region was set on fire. Regional governor Andrei Bocharov blamed the debris from downed drones, which fell on the camp in the city of Kalatsch am Don.

The Russian Defense Ministry said 38 Ukrainian combat drones were intercepted over the Belgorod, Kursk, Voronezh, Rostov and Astrakhan regions on Tuesday night. Aircraft were temporarily unable to take off or land at commercial airports in Volgograd and Astrakhan.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for two years. Lacking heavy long-range weapons, it tries to compensate for this deficit by means of targeted drone strikes. However, the damage caused is out of proportion to the devastating consequences of the Russian bombing of Ukraine.

Scholz pledges support for Ukraine

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has again promised Ukraine long-term support against Russia’s war of aggression. “And it is good that we have reaffirmed this in recent days with a very clear message: We will support Ukraine as long as necessary,” Scholz said in Berlin before leaving for the NATO summit in Washington. He referred to arms deliveries and the joint initiative of the major industrialized countries. At their summit in Italy, the G7 countries agreed to finance a loan package worth around 50 billion dollars (around 47 billion euros) with the help of interest from frozen Russian state assets.

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