‘There would be nothing left’ of Ukraine hospital – Russian envoy

Instead the Russian envoy claimed that it was Ukraine’s air defense missile that had hit the hospital where two people died while as many as 300 have been reportedly injured.

Speaking to the UN Security Council on today, Dr. Vladimir Zhovnir, the director of Kiev’s Okhmatdyt children’s hospital, accused Russia of committing a “war crime”.

In response Mr Nebenzia said: “Does Mr. Zhovnir understand that if it was a Russian missile, there would be nothing left of the building? Children and adults would have died rather than been injured.”
He then sought to explain what Russian officials theorized had happened Monday when its forces targeted the Artemov missile plant based in the Ukraine capital of Kiev.

“Since the plant is located approximately two kilometers from the children’s hospital, there is every reason to believe that the Ukrainian air defense missile that hit it was intended for a Russian missile that hit the plant,” he said in a RT article.

He further argued by adding that “this tragedy could have been avoided if the Ukrainian Armed Forces had not deployed air defense in residential areas.”

Major western media outlets have been reporting on the missile attack on the largest children hospital in Ukraine with pro-western dismissing Russia’s version.

US President Joe Biden has condemned the attack while promising to boosts Ukraine’s air defenses ahead of a scheduled meeting with Nato in Washington.

Meantime Amnesty International has laid the blame squarely at the feet of Russia.

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “The destruction of hospitals, as well as residential buildings and essential infrastructure are abhorrent, and any acts that target or disregard civilians must be unequivocally condemned.

“The evidence now widely available and some of it verified by Amnesty International experts, including videos of the strike that destroyed the Ohmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, consistently suggests that the hospital was hit by an inbound Russian cruise missile.

“Russian attempts to put the blame on Ukrainian air defence display a callous audacity, which seeks to deflect from Russia’s responsibility for killing civilians and destroying medical facilities.”