UN Analysis Calls Children's Hospital In Kyiv Ukraine Possibly Hit By Russian Missile Direct Attack

JAKARTA - The head of the UN's human rights monitoring mission said on Tuesday that a deadly attack on a child's hospital in Ukraine's capital Kyiv was most likely caused by a direct attack from Russian missiles, citing the results of its analysis.

"The analysis of video footage and assessments carried out at the scene shows the child's hospital is likely to be hit by direct attacks rather than being damaged by intercepted weapons systems," said Danielle Bell, head of mission for the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, at a news conference in Geneva via video link from Kyiv., reported Reuters July 9.

Airstrikes in broad daylight on Monday have been the largest in recent months. The attack was directed at the capital Kyiv and a number of other cities in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Air Force said their air defense system fired 30 of the 38 missiles launched. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Security Service identified the missile as a Kh-101 cruise missile. One of the missiles launched is said to have hit the main child hospital in Kyiv.

The wave of attacks reportedly killed at least 41 people. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a tweet on Twitter wrote that 38 other 190 people died.

Danielle Bell said her team visiting the site on Monday could not make a final decision, but the missile appeared to have been launched by the Russian Federation.

The center treats children with serious conditions, such as cancer and kidney disease, and has about 670 pediatric patients and about 1,000 staff at the time of the attack, Bell said.

"The staff moved the children to the bunker yesterday morning when the airstrike sirens first sounded, otherwise the number of victims would be much more," he said.

President Zelensky denounced the attack and would not allow it, saying it would give a firm response.

"We will repay these people, we will give a strong response from our side to Russia, of course. The question for our partners is: can they respond?" President Zelensky said during a speech at a press conference in Warsaw, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Separately, the Russian Ministry of Defense said its forces were attacking the targets of the defense industry and flight bases.

"The allegations made by Kyiv officials about the intentional Russian missile attack against civilian targets are completely untrue," the ministry said, launching TASS.

"A number of published photos and videos reports from Kyiv make it clear that the damage was caused by Ukraine's falling air defense missile launched from missile systems stationed within the city limits," the statement said.

According to the ministry, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a high-precision attack on the location of Ukraine's defense industry and air base, in response to Kyiv's efforts to attack energy facilities within Russia. All targeted targets were hit.