Air strikes on Ukraine - World Security Council meets on the bombing of children's clinic in Kiev
In the aftermath of the latest Russian rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities resulting in dozens of casualties, Moscow finds itself once again under the spotlight of the international community. The UN Security Council is set to convene an emergency session to address the attacks, which included the damage to a children's clinic in Kiev. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the Russian rocket attacks and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
More than three dozen people were reportedly killed and over 140 injured in the attacks on Kiev and Dnipro. According to the military administration, at least 27 people, including three children, were killed in Kiev, with 82 injured. In Dnipro, officials reported 11 fatalities and 59 injuries. President Volodymyr Zelensky presented conflicting figures on the platform X – he spoke of a total of 37 fatalities and 170 injuries, among them 13 children.
Due to Russia's veto power in the Security Council, a unanimous condemnation of the Russian military actions is unlikely. "We must hold Russia accountable for terror and Putin for the orders to carry out these attacks," Zelensky stated during a visit to Warsaw. "Whenever someone tries to speak to him about peace, Russia responds with attacks on residential buildings and hospitals."
Meanwhile, in Kiev, recovery efforts continued at the damaged children's clinic. Hundreds of residents helped firefighters search for more victims and clear debris. US President Joe Biden described the attacks as "a horrifying reminder of Russia's brutality." It is crucial that the world stands with Ukraine at this critical moment, he urged.
Politicians react in horror to attack on Ukrainian children's clinic
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Turk condemned the rocket attacks. "Among the victims were the most vulnerable children of Ukraine," he said in Geneva. Shockingly, the intensive care unit of the largest children's hospital in Ukraine was severely damaged, and the dialysis department was destroyed in one of the attacks. "This is abhorrent," Turk said. "Those with influence must do everything they can to make these attacks stop immediately."
According to Turk's statements, at least seven civilians were killed by falling debris from a rocket that hit one of the largest women's health centers in Ukraine.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a German politician from the FDP, expressed her shock. "Putin once again shows his cruelty with the brutal attack on a children's clinic," she said. "Anyone who still claims Putin wants to negotiate is shockingly out of touch and naive." No one with eyes can now oppose the delivery of Taurus missile launchers to the attacked country. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has so far rejected this, citing the need to prevent Germany from being drawn into the war.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed rocket attacks, which were reportedly targeting Ukrainian military factories and airbases. Many video recordings from Kiev allegedly showed, from the Russian perspective, that the damages were caused by a Ukrainian surface-to-air missile, without providing evidence. The Ukrainians' shock over the attack was dismissed by the Moscow Military as "hysteria of the Kiev regime," as they have repeatedly shown at NATO meetings.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, expressed deep concern over the damage to a children's clinic in Kiev, stating that among the victims were the most vulnerable children of Ukraine. Germans politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann condemned Putin's cruelty, referring to the brutal attack on the same children's clinic in Kiev.
