KYIV: Nine people were killed and 12 others injured on Saturday when Russian strikes hit a hospital in the Ukrainian border city of Sumy, officials said, as President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, accusing Moscow of “waging war on hospitals”.
Sumy, located just across the border from Russia’s Kursk region, has been at the center of recent tensions. Kyiv launched an offensive in the area on August 6, aiming to establish a buffer zone inside Russian territory.
“Russia hit one of the city’s hospitals with Shahed drones,” Zelensky confirmed on Telegram. He urged the international community to recognize Russia’s deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure.
“Everyone in the world who speaks about this war must pay attention to what Russia is targeting. They are waging war on hospitals, civilian objects, and people’s lives.”
The strikes took place in two waves, with the first attack occurring around 7:35 a.m. local time, followed by a second strike an hour later, which targeted the ongoing rescue operation.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said the second strike aimed to maximize casualties, striking as patients were being evacuated from the hospital. One police officer was killed, and another was injured in the strikes.
Images shared by Zelensky and local authorities showed the extensive damage to the four-story hospital building. Body bags lined the pavement outside the facility.
Hospital director Volodymyr Potseluyev confirmed that the admission department, casualty department, and the hospital’s fourth floor were destroyed. Critically injured patients have been transferred to other hospitals for treatment.
Regional authorities reported that a nearby residential area was also hit, with images showing apartments with shattered windows. The volunteer group Dobrobat, which had been assisting in repairing damaged homes in the area, shared footage of the chaos following the second strike.
Zelensky’s administration described the strikes as another example of Russia’s war crimes. Human Rights Watch recently reported that Russia has damaged or destroyed at least 1,736 medical facilities in Ukraine since its invasion in February 2022.
Previous Russian attacks on medical facilities include the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol in March 2022 and a missile strike on a children’s hospital in Kyiv in July.
Ukraine’s air force reported shooting down 68 of 73 Russian attack drones overnight, including those targeting Sumy. It also intercepted two of four cruise missiles launched by Russia.
