Ukraine's parliament calls on world to recognize strike on Okhmatdyt as terrorist attack
Ukrainian MPs and the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada in a joint statement called on international partners to respond to Russia's shelling of civilian infrastructure and the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital and to recognize such actions as a terrorist attack.
That's according to the Verkhovna Rada's press service, Ukrinform reports.
"Today, on July 8, 2024, the Russian Federation committed one of the bloodiest war crimes during its illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine," the statement said.
The targets of the attack were peaceful Ukrainian cities where Russian missiles hit residential buildings, medical facilities and civilian infrastructure, the lawmakers stated. They called the Russians' targeted missile attack on Ukraine's largest and oldest children's hospital -- the Okhmatdyt National Children's Specialized Hospital where thousands of children from all over the country receive treatment -- unprecedented in its cruelty.
"This heinous crime against the least protected and most vulnerable - sick children - is inexplicable and striking with its inhuman nature," the politicians said.
The Verkhovna Rada recalled that since the beginning of Russia's large-scale armed aggression, 214 objects of medical infrastructure had been destroyed and 1,630 damaged.
According to the MPs, the Russian attack on Okhmatdyt requires a strong reaction from the United Nations Security Council, "but currently the UN Security Council is chaired by a terrorist state -- the Russian Federation -- which, contrary to the UN Charter, has acquired the status of a member of the UN and the status of a permanent member of its Security Council."
This indicates the systemic degradation of the system of international organizations and determines the need to find new effective security mechanisms, the Verkhovna Rada said.
"Today -- on the eve of the Washington NATO Summit -- we regard this criminal attack by the Russian Federation as a cynical signal to the alliance, dictated by the confidence of the Russians in their complete impunity. This terrorist attack requires a special response from the allies. Further delay in taking effective measures to counter Russia's aggression will only encourage the aggressor to escalate crimes and continue genocidal practices," the statement said.
Its authors added that with today's attack, Russia has shown that it does not seek peace or negotiations and has no intention of abandoning its aggressive goal of destroying Ukraine.
In this regard, parliamentarians called on international partners to provide Ukraine with all the necessary weapons, including Patriot and SAMP/T air defense systems, missiles for them, long-range weapons, artillery systems and ammunition, sufficient quantities of UAVs and EW systems, as well as to remove restrictions on the use of this technology so that Ukraine can defend itself from Russian terror.
In addition, Ukrainian politicians called on the governments and parliaments of other states, universal and regional international organizations and their parliamentary institutions to immediately react to the "barbaric attack committed by the Russian Federation and recognize it as a terrorist attack."
The statement also calls on the international community to take all possible measures to investigate this and other crimes and bring to justice and justly punish all perpetrators.
Lawmakers insist that the declared commitment to the goals and principles of the UN Charter requires member states to exert the strongest effective political and sanctions pressure on Russia and its officials, including its top leadership, with the aim of ending armed aggression against Ukraine and restoring a world order based on respect for norms of international law and the UN Charter.
At the same time, the document calls on the NATO countries to increase military and technical assistance to Ukraine, close the Ukrainian skies and make a decision on the possibility of NATO countries shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine.
Russia's July 8 missile attack targeted Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Residential buildings, infrastructure facilities and a children's hospital were damaged.
According to the latest reports, the Russian attack killed 36 people and left 166 injured.