Russia: It was NASAMS anti-aircraft missile that hit Okhmatdyt choldren's hospital

Russian Foreign Ministry official spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that the strike of a NASAMS anti-aircraft missile system missile on the territory of the children's hospital in Kyiv was confirmed. Zakharova's comment came in response to the destruction at the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv on July 8.

According to Zakharova, this is not the first time when Ukraine's anti-aircraft missiles hit residential buildings and social institutions.

"It has already been confirmed, including by numerous witnesses, that one of the missiles from the Western NASAMS air defense system hit the building on the territory of the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv,” Maria Zakharova said.

Zakharova believes that Kyiv has long been using civilian enterprises for military purposes, turning them either into workshops for the collection and repair of military equipment, or warehouses for storing weapons and equipment. In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hide their military personnel behind civilians and objects of civilian infrastructure, she added.

"The practice has become widespread when cars carrying military equipment and military personnel are connected to passenger trains. Postal carriages are also used to transport weapons," Zakharova said.

Kyiv's attempts to take advantage of the tragedy with the children's hospital confirm its "inhuman Nazi essence,” Zakharova added. "The Kiev regime is ready for any crimes to maintain power. This regime is indifferent to the lives of its fellow citizens, including children,” she added.

Kremlin official Dmitry Peskov said that it was a Ukrainian air defence missile that hit the Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv.

The Russian Armed Forces strike only critical infrastructure facilities that are related to the military potential of Ukraine, Peskov added.

"We still insist: we do not carry out attacks on civilian targets,” Peskov concluded.

The Russian Ministry of Defense emphasized that Kyiv's statements about Russia's deliberate strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine were "absolutely untrue.”

On July 8, a series of powerful explosions occurred in Kyiv. In particular, the Artyom military plant came under attack.

Ukrainian President Zelensky said that the republic requested a meeting of the UN Security Council on July 9 in connection with Russia's most recent strikes on the Ukrainian capital. Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, in turn, noted that Moscow will present facts that refute the Ukrainian and Western versions of the attack on Kyiv.