In a heartbreaking scene outside the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in central Kyiv, children sat in stunned silence, still tethered to medical drips. They had just emerged from the hospital’s dark bomb shelter, their eyes adjusting to the light. A powerful Russian missile attack had hit the hospital, killing at least four people and injuring many others.
The hospital’s toxicology ward was destroyed, with shrapnel shattering windows and reducing a surgical room to rubble. Medics and rescuers were seen attending to the injured and combing through the wreckage in search of survivors. Amid the chaos, a woman was seen cradling a blood-covered infant, and civilians formed a human chain to clear the debris.
Maria Soloshenko, a 21-year-old nurse, described the harrowing evacuation of children from the toxicology ward. Some children, as young as 18 months, had to be taken off dialysis and moved through windows. Soloshenko also recounted treating a fellow nurse with a head wound, barely recognizing her amid the dust and blood.
The strike, part of a pattern of attacks on medical facilities since the start of the invasion, caused severe damage to the hospital, which treats 20,000 children annually. Nurse Tanya Lapshina spoke of the chaos in the trauma department and the fear for a child undergoing open-heart surgery during the strike. Images from the hospital showed bloodied children, collapsed ceilings, and destroyed equipment.
The rescue efforts were interrupted by air-raid alarms, forcing emergency staff to seek shelter. One volunteer described the situation as barbaric, emphasizing the targeting of vulnerable children.
The attack also affected a maternity unit in Kyiv, killing four people and wounding three. Ukrainian philosopher Volodymyr Yermolenko summarized the grim reality, describing Russia’s attacks as a war against life itself.
As rescue efforts continued, the children were evacuated to nearby hospitals. They moved slowly towards waiting ambulances, accompanied by the hum of their infusion pumps and the sound of new air-raid sirens.