(Kyiv, Ukraine) Nine people were killed, including a nurse, and nearly twenty others injured Saturday in a double Russian strike targeting a hospital in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine , announced the Ukrainian regional authorities.
Posted at 12:02 p.m.
“The balance sheet […] has become heavier: it is now established that nine people were killed,” the Sumy regional administration announced on Telegram.
The Ukrainian Health Ministry said the affected hospital was the Saint-Pantalémon Clinic, near the city center of Sumy, with a nurse among the victims.
The number of injured has now reached 19 people, according to this source.
Russia, which struck using “drones [explosifs, NDLR] Shahed,” “wages war on hospitals, civilian infrastructure and people’s lives. Only force can force Russia into peace,” insisted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Peace through strength is the only right path.”
According to Interior Minister Igor Klymenko, a first attack “killed one person” and damaged several floors of a hospital, which led to its evacuation.
While rescuers and police arrived on site, “the enemy struck again during the evacuation of patients,” the minister explained.
Russia sometimes doubles its attacks on the same target in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian National Police, which counted one dead and one injured in these bombings, spoke of “a cynical attack” on its Telegram account.
The first attack took place at 7:35 a.m. (12:35 a.m. Eastern Time), targeting the hospital which at the time housed 86 patients and 38 staff members, according to Ukrainian prosecutors.
The second strike occurred at 8:25 a.m. (1:25 a.m. Eastern Time), when emergency responders and police were on scene to help evacuate patients.
Police released images of damage to the four-story hospital, also showing stretchers waiting outside and cars hit.
A Ukrainian volunteer group that helps rebuild buildings, Dobrobat, said on its Facebook account that its members were on site when the second strike occurred. He released a video showing thick smoke, explosions and civilians fleeing to the sound of alarm sirens.
“There are dead bodies,” said a volunteer from the organization, filming with his phone. “We survived by a miracle as we were entering the building,” he adds.
Sumy is the main city of a region of the same name, bordering several Russian regions, including Kursk, where Ukraine took control of dozens of localities during a major offensive in August.
Lavrov warns Europe against any “suicidal adventure” with Ukraine
The head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov on Saturday once again warned European states against any confrontation with Moscow if they continue their “suicidal adventure” alongside Ukraine.
PHOTO EDUARDO MUNOZ, REUTERS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivered a speech at the UN General Assembly on September 28, 2024 in New York.
Speaking from the podium of the UN General Assembly in place of President Vladimir Putin who has not visited New York for years, Mr. Lavrov also warned against the possible entry of Ukraine “within NATO”.
The West “hopes to defeat Russia by using the neo-Nazi and illegitimate regime in Kyiv, but it is already preparing Europe to embark on a suicidal adventure,” threatened the head of Russian diplomacy.
As Mr. Putin regularly does, Minister Lavrov spoke of “the insane and dangerous idea of fighting to victory against a nuclear power.”
Preceding it on Saturday at the podium, his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi spoke out against an “expansion” of the conflict in Ukraine and called on all parties to avoid “provocations”.
