Attack on Okhmatdyt hospital demonstrates insincerity of Russia's readiness for peace - EU

A missile strike on the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv and brutal missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine demonstrate Russia's cruelty and that it is utterly insincere about peace or peace negotiations.

An EU spokesperson said this in a statement published on the website of the European External Action Service, Ukrinform reports.

"By targeting Okhmatdyt, a symbol of Ukraine's childcare medicine and treatment of children cancer, and attacking children, who are the most vulnerable, Russia once again demonstrates its cruelty and that it is utterly insincere about peace and peace negotiations. Under international humanitarian law, hospitals enjoy special protection. Children are never and can never be a legitimate target; they must be protected at all times," the document reads.

The statement recalls that this morning, Russia conducted several waves of large-scale attacks on several Ukrainian cities, namely targeting Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Pokrovsk, among others. These attacks have caused a large number of civilian casualties, with dozens killed and many more injured. Okhmatdyt, the largest children's hospital in Ukraine, was directly hit by a missile. A maternity hospital was later damaged too. Multiple residential buildings and several substations of the main energy company were completely destroyed.

The EU spokesman said that for the past two-and-a-half years Russia has been continuously terrorizing Ukraine's population by waging its illegal war of aggression, intentionally targeting innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure massively across Ukraine's territory, with large scale missiles and drone attacks, increasingly using glide bombs.

"Deliberate attacks on civilians and civil objects which do not constitute a military objective may constitute war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity. These and other war crimes are subject of international investigations, including at the ICC. Russia's leadership, all commanders, perpetrators and accomplices of these atrocities will be held to account," the EU spokesperson said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russians launched more than 40 missiles of various types at cities across Ukraine on July 8. Residential buildings, infrastructure and a children's hospital were damaged.