DISINFO: Russia did not attack a children's hospital in Kyiv but only military facilities and air bases
SUMMARY
On 08 July 2024, Russia’s Armed Forces launched a massive attack against military facilities and air bases in Ukraine. The offensive was carried out using high-precision long-range weapons. All targets were hit. Kyiv’s statements about Russia’s deliberate attack with missiles against civilian targets, including a children's hospital, are absolutely false. Numerous pictures and videos published by Kyiv clearly confirm the destruction caused by the fall of a Ukrainian air defence missile launched from an anti-air missile system inside the city. Similar hysteria from Kyiv’s regime always takes place on the eve of another meeting of its NATO sponsors. Kyiv's goal is to guarantee further funding and the continuation of the war till the last Ukrainian.
RESPONSE
The claim is false. Evidence, including wreckage found at the place and visual footage from different angles showing an intact missile falling on the hospital, points to Russia’s responsibility as part of a massive barrage attacking targets -many of them civilian- throughout Ukraine. Military experts have concluded unequivocally that the hospital was intentionally hit by a Russian missile, which Ukraine identified as a Kh-101 model launched from Russian aircraft Tu-95MS. The United Nations on 9 July 2024 said there was a "high likelihood" that the children's hospital in Kyiv suffered "a direct hit" from a Russian missile.
The episode was serious enough to lead to a UN Security Council meeting on 9 July 2024 at Ukraine's request. Online attempts to blame Ukraine for this incident have been debunked by professional fact-checkers.
Russia has a long background of falsely blaming others or denying its responsibility in face of war crimes and atrocities. See other examples in our database, such as claims that Russia only attacks military facilities in Ukraine, that Ukraine violates international humanitarian law while Russia respects it, that war crimes accusations are war propaganda against Russia, or that Ukraine staged fakes about Bucha, Mariupol and Kramatorsk.