One of the largest medical facilities in Ukraine, Kyiv Children's Clinical Hospital "Okhmatdyt", was targeted by Russian missiles, which led to destruction and huge losses. The hospital, which is known for its role in providing medical care to seriously ill children from all over Ukraine, is now unable to continue its operations due to extensive destruction.
In particular, the building, where intensive care and toxicology, hemodialysis and laboratory research departments are located, was badly damaged. Other high-rise buildings of the hospital were also damaged.
The head of the bone marrow transplantation department, Oleksandr Lysytsia, reported that almost 80% of the hospital was out of order. All communications are destroyed, there is no electricity and water supply.
The exact number of dead and wounded is not yet known, as the rescue operation and the evacuation of the destroyed people who were in the hospital during the shelling are ongoing.
After the rocket attacks on the Kyiv Children's Clinical Hospital "Okhmatdyt", employees of the State Emergency Service and volunteers immediately started rescue operations, sorting out the rubble of the destroyed building, where people could remain.
Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko, speaking in a national telethon, emphasized that only after the completion of these rescue operations will it be possible to finally estimate the number of dead and wounded. He noted that there are confirmed cases of deaths, but due to constant changes in the situation, he cannot disclose specific information for ethical reasons.
At the time of the last report, as of 3:00 p.m. Monday, two dead persons were confirmed, one of whom is doctor Svitlana Lukyanchuk, whose name was given by Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadov. A total of 16 people were injured, including seven children.
One of the doctors, who worked in the intensive care unit of the destroyed building, said in a telethon that at the time of the shelling, there were about 20 patients there, including those who had undergone an artificial kidney transplant.
Minister Lyashko stated that all patients from other departments of damaged but not destroyed buildings of the hospital managed to be evacuated to other medical facilities, including operational and intensive care units.
Separately, it was noted that among the damaged buildings is the Children's Cardiac Surgery Center, where three heart surgeries were performed at the time of the shelling. Damage to the windows led to contamination of the chest cavity of the patients, but with the help of medical personnel, the children were evacuated to safer conditions.
Minister Lyashko emphasized that the priority for evacuation was patients who need artificial lung ventilation, oxygen therapy or depend on medical equipment that works on electricity.
On the air of the BBC, nurse Iryna spoke about the dramatic moments of the evacuation, in particular, about the attempt to operate on a two-month-old baby at the time of rocket fire. The surgeon decided to cover the child's body to protect it from potential injuries.
Iryna emphasized that the situation was very tense and noisy, and she almost fell silent from shock. Despite this, they successfully evacuated the child to a safe place where she was not injured.
"The Russians are attacking our children," a nurse told the BBC in tears, noting the importance of protecting medical staff and patients during hostilities.
According to the message of the Minister of Health, the heads of all departments of the Kyiv Children's Clinical Hospital "Okhmatdyt" are actively evacuating patients to other medical institutions. Viktor Lyashko noted that the network of these institutions is ready to accept all evacuees, and there are enough places.
"I am involved in the evacuation of my department. Currently, there are 20 seriously ill and more than 30 less severe cases. Among them are children from babies to teenagers," said Oleksandr Lysytsia from BBC Ukraine.
An operational headquarters works to coordinate assistance to relatives and organize evacuation.
The Minister of Health emphasized to the journalists that it is too early to talk about the timing of resuming the work of "Okhmatdyt".
"The main thing now is to save lives. Then we will decide how to restore the work of the hospital, which requires resources for this and how to transport equipment to other medical institutions if necessary," Lyashko emphasized.
During a joint press conference in Warsaw with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed his country's readiness to accept patients from "Okhmatdyt" in Polish clinics.
Immediately after the reports about the destruction of Okhmatdyt, some Russian Telegram channels wrote that "important people" were holding a meeting in one of the buildings of the hospital and it was he who was targeted.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that Kyiv was shelling itself, and that the fired rocket fell into the hospital yard only because of the work of air defense.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, while in Poland, said that Russia purposefully directed the missile at the hospital, and this is confirmed by photos and videos published by the people of Kyiv on social networks.
SBU investigators had previously established that the Russians had used the Kh-101 strategic cruise missile.
