DISINFO: Russian wrongly blamed for missile attack on children’s hospital
SUMMARY
Ukrainians accuse Russians of a “missile strike on a children’s hospital”.
In the screenshot and video, the moment the rocket hit a technical building on the hospital grounds can be seen. Neither the explosion itself nor its force and sound resemble those of a cruise missile. The power is not the same, and it is too small for an X-shki or a Zircon.
Everyone who saw the video completely agrees that it is an air defence missile system, most likely Patriot or IRIS-T.
RESPONSE
An attempt to blame the victims of a Russian missile strike and exonerate Russian forces of a potential war crime. The UN security council is set to meet on Tuesday 9th July 2024 at the request of Ukraine, as well as Britain, France, Ecuador, Slovenia and the US.
On 8 July 2024, Russia launched at least 40 missiles at targets across Ukraine, including the country’s largest children’s hospital. At least 38 people were killed across the country, including 27 in Kyiv. More than 100 people were injured. The fall of the missile was captured in hi-resolution video and it appears intact and deliberating falling on its target.
A video of the attack taken by a Kyiv resident and verified by The New York Times showed a missile moving downward at high speed before striking the children’s hospital. Fabian Hoffman, a doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo who specialises in missile technology, identified the weapon as a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. The United Nations on 9 July 2024 said there was a "high likelihood" that the children's hospital in Kyiv suffered "a direct hit" from a Russian missile.
The type of the weapon and its trajectory suggested that Russia intentionally targeted the hospital, according to Mr. Hoffman. He said that the trajectory of the missile “appears controlled,” and that it was likely programmed before launch.
Mr. Hoffman also noted that the missile was not struck by a Ukrainian anti-air-defence interceptor, and was “fully intact, with no visible damage to the fuselage.”
The Ukrainian Security Services recovered fragments of what it said was the missile that struck the hospital, also identifying it as a Kh-101 cruise missile.
Other Russian attempts to dismiss the responsibility of this act involved affirmation without any evidence or with pictures of previous events reused wrongly for this attack.
See the statement by the EEAS Spokesperson on the large-scale missile and drone attacks by Russia targeting civilians in Ukraine including a children’s hospital.
Read also related cases such as: Ukrainians killed 16 people in Kostiantynivka and blamed it on Russia, or A British mercenary revealed that Kramatorsk bombing killed soldiers not civilians, or Media wrongly accuse Russia of bombing of Kramatorsk railway station, The nature of the destruction of the house in Dnepropetrovsk suggests it was not a missile, or Russia's missile strikes are selective and humane not to hurt civilians.