The volley struck a number of cities, including Kyiv, Dnipro and Zelensky’s native city of Kryvyi Rih, among others. Rescue operations across Ukraine were still underway late Monday.
On Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry deflected blame, saying it had carried out a major attack on Ukraine but denying that it had struck civilian infrastructure.
In Kyiv, the strike on Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital killed a doctor and destroyed a dialysis facility, Ukrainian officials said. Patients and staff members were forced to evacuate into the street. In a statement, Zelensky said he instructed government officials to find a suitable hospital for the patients to resume their treatment.
“Mere concern does not stop the terror. Compassion is not a weapon,” Zelensky added in a call to action directed at Ukraine’s partners. “It is necessary to shoot down Russian missiles. It is necessary to destroy Russian combat aircraft where they are based. It is necessary to take strong steps that will not leave any security deficit.”
The newly elected British prime minister, Keir Starmer, called the attack “depraved” and pledged to “stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression” in a post on social media.
Monday’s missile strikes came amid dueling diplomatic pushes surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky met with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw, where the two leaders signed a security cooperation agreement. In parallel, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Beijing, where he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping discussed efforts to secure a cease-fire in Ukraine.
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Orban’s diplomatic blitz — which included stops in Kyiv and Moscow — has elicited criticism from Ukraine’s Western allies, who fear that a cessation in fighting would merely give Russian forces an opportunity to regroup and stage another offensive.
Serhii Korolchuk in Kyiv and Natalia Abbakumova in Riga, Latvia, contributed to this report.
