Russia insists it did not strike Kyiv children’s hospital, blames Ukrainian air defences
- The Kremlin said a surface-to-air missile launched by Ukraine hit the children’s hospital, and it does not ‘conduct strikes on civilian targets’
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Ukrainian anti-missile fire, not Russia, had hit a children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “I insist, we do not conduct strikes on civilian targets.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that it was a NASAMS surface-to-air missile launched by Ukraine that hit the children’s hospital.
Ukrainian authorities say Russia struck the main children’s hospital in Kyiv with a missile on Monday and rained missiles on other cities across Ukraine, killing at least 41 civilians in the deadliest wave of air strikes for months.
The Ukrainian Security Service has said a Russian Kh-101 Kalibr missile struck the hospital and that evidence of this was recovered at the site – in particular, fragments of the rear part of the missile with a serial number, and a part of the guidance system.
Peskov, at his daily briefing, was asked how Russia could say it does not attack civilian targets after the tragedy at the hospital.