At least 20 people were killed and more than 50 injured in waves of Russian missile attacks across Ukraine, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Monday, a day before NATO leaders gather in Washington to discuss their support for the government in Kiev.
A large children's hospital was struck in Kiev, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. He posted a video on social media showing portions of the building reduced to rubble and traces of blood on the floor of wrecked hospital rooms.
He said the exact number of causalities at the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital was still being determined.
"Right now, everyone is helping to clear the rubble – doctors and ordinary people," he posted on X.
"Russia cannot claim ignorance of where its missiles are flying and must be held fully accountable for all its crimes. Against people, against children, against humanity in general," he wrote.
Health Minister Viktor Liashko said dialysis and cancer treatment departments, as well as operating theatres and the intensive care unit, were damaged.
Kiev was among the cities worst impacted by the strikes, with seven dead and at least nine injured, the city administration said in its initial count.
Residents in Kiev's centre heard two dozen explosions, presumably the result of anti-aircraft missiles. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said debris fell in four of the city's neighbourhoods.
The Russian army fired cruise missiles and several Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at targets in the city that is home to 3 million people, the Ukrainian Air Force said earlier.
Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine was also badly hit and at least 10 people there were killed and more than 30 injured.
Damage was also reported in Dnipro. Other targets included the front-line cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.
The Russian military used more than 40 missiles in the attack, Zelensky said.
It was unusual that the heavy attack took place during the day at the beginning of the working week. The embattled nation already saw airstrikes by drones, cruise missiles and missiles during the night.
Ukraine has been trying to repel a full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022 and depends largely on Western support. Kiev repeatedly urges its allies to provide even more modern air defence systems.
Ukraine hopes for more NATO help
Ukraine has received four of the particularly powerful US-made Patriot systems, but says it needs many more.
Kiev is hoping for further commitments at the NATO summit in Washington that opens on Tuesday, including on up to six Patriot systems from Israel.
Zelensky has stressed the need for at least seven reliable anti-aircraft systems to protect major cities such as Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhya and Odessa, which are frequently targeted by missile attacks.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the alliance is set to provide Ukraine with military aid worth €40 billion ($43 billion) in 2025 in a press conference ahead of the summit.
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