Russia insists at UN Security Council that Ukrainian missile hit kyiv children’s hospital

Ukraine shows photos of KH-101 missile wreckage and condemns Russia’s presence in the Council

9 Jul. () –

Russia’s UN ambassador Vasili Nebenzia told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the bombing of a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, was caused by a missile from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

“It is clear that a Nassams-type missile was used, which deviated from its trajectory and fell into the children’s hospital. Western missiles often miss their target. This also happened when a Ukrainian missile hit a tractor in Poland,” he said.

Nebenzia also said that the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered media outlets to publish only information related to the children’s hospital in order to “divert attention from other issues.”

In this regard, he said that this action seeks to “raise the morale of the Army and the Ukrainian people”; “distract the masses from the daily anarchy of the Government”, mainly corruption or rising prices, as well as “divert attention from the constant withdrawal of the Armed Forces from Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s UN ambassador Sergei Kislitsya said Russia attacked the children’s hospital with a KH-101 cruise missile and showed the council photographs of its remains, published by the Ukrainian Security Service.

Kislitsya explained that this was “just one of many” projectiles – including Kinzhal, Iskander and Zircon ballistic missiles – that hit Ukrainian territory the day before. “There were fierce attacks on almost 100 civilian sites,” he stressed.

Ukraine’s UN ambassador recalled that Russian forces attacked a children’s hospital in Aleppo, Syria, in 2016, killing two dozen civilians. “It is not surprising that Russia persists in destroying the concept of a just and lasting peace based on the principles of the (UN) charter,” he added.

“The question is, however, what future can we be talking about if the killer feels comfortable sitting in this chair, knee-deep in the blood of children?” he asked, demanding that Russia’s role in the Council be addressed.

He also said that Nebenzia represents “a wanted criminal,” referring to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Russian President Vladimir Putin on suspicion of war crimes for the forced deportation of Ukrainian children from areas captured during the war in Ukraine to Russian territory.

The latest wave of attacks by Russia has hit the Okhmaddit children’s hospital in the capital, kyiv, and other locations. In total, at least 37 people have been killed, including three children, and 170 people have been injured, according to Ukrainian authorities.