KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian missile strike hit a hospital complex in central Ukraine on Friday morning, killing at least one person and injuring nearly two dozen others, including two children, Ukrainian officials said.
As rescue workers rushed to pull survivors from the rubble and firefighters struggled to contain the blaze caused by the attack, President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strike against the medical facility in the city of Dnipro an act of “inhuman” barbarism.
Serhii Lysak, the region’s military administration chief, said a 69-year-old man was killed and at least 21 people were being treated for injuries.
The strike took place on the campus of a medical facility that includes a psychiatric hospital and a veterinary clinic, Ukrainian officials said. A three-story building in the complex was flattened and other buildings suffered extensive damage, they said.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets released graphic videos of bloodied victims pulled from the rubble. The attack on a medical facility, he said, is further proof that “Russia is at war with the civilian population.”
He said among the injured were two boys, aged 3 and 6, and four people were still missing several hours after the strike.
The city of Dnipro in central Ukraine is a hub for Ukrainian soldiers injured in battle, usually a first stop before being transported to other hospitals in the country. It was unclear whether any Ukrainian soldiers were being treated at the facility that was hit on Friday or were injured in the attack.
Mr Zelensky called the strike a “crime”.
“There can be no military purpose in this,” he said in a statement. He shared a video that showed black smoke billowing from a building, the roof of which had been completely razed.
His wife, Olena Zelenska, also denounced the attack and shared the video of a destroyed building in flames.
Ukrainian medical facilities and civilian property are again attacked. A terrible level of cynicism to hit a psychological dispensary in the Dnipropetrovsk region with missiles. There are dead and wounded. My condolences to all those who suffered from this terrorist attack. pic.twitter.com/xTVgTMcu8b
— Олена Зеленська (@ZelenskaUA) May 26, 2023
The missile strike came just hours after another night of Russian aerial bombardment, which Ukraine’s military said involved 17 missiles and 31 attack drones aimed at targets across the country. Ukraine’s air force said Friday morning it had destroyed 10 cruise missiles and 23 attack drones.
At least five of the cruise missiles and six of the attack drones were shot down over the Dnipro region.
“It was a really tough night,” Mr Lysak said. At least two homes, two private businesses and a gas station were all damaged as a result of the attack, he said. A gas station employee was injured, Mr Lysak said, but no other casualties were reported during the overnight strikes.
