Targeting hospitals in Ukraine is a "war crime," a senior UN official has told an emergency meeting of the Security Council, called in the wake of deadly strikes that Kyiv blamed on Russia.
Russia came under fire at the Security Council for conducting "systemic attacks" on Ukraine's medical facilities after a wave of deadly strikes across the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 38 people across Ukraine were killed - including four children - and 190 wounded in the wave of nearly 40 missiles that targeted several towns and cities yesterday, damaging medical facilities.
"Intentionally directing attacks against a protected hospital is a war crime and perpetrators must be held to account... these incidents are part of a deeply concerning pattern of systemic attacks harming healthcare and other civilian infrastructure across Ukraine," said Joyce Msuya, acting under-secretary for humanitarian affairs.
"These incidents are part of a deeply concerning pattern of systemic attacks harming healthcare and other civilian infrastructure across Ukraine," Ms Msuya added.
Kyiv said a children's hospital was struck by a Russian cruise missile with components produced in NATO member countries, and announced a day of mourning in the capital.
"First responders attending the scene immediately after the attack found children receiving treatment for cancer in hospital beds, set up in parks and on the street, where medical workers had quickly established triage areas," Ms Msuya said.
Ukrainian ally France's envoy Nicolas de Riviere said: "Russia has deliberately targeted residential neighborhoods and healthcare infrastructure.
"France condemns these flagrant violations of international law, which are yet another entry and note list of war crimes for which Russia will be held accountable."
China, which has long called for a negotiated settlement between Russia and Ukraine, said that both sides should "show political will, meet each other halfway and start peace talks at an early date".
"China will continue to actively promote peace talks," said Beijing's envoy Fu Cong.
Russia previously claimed the extensive missile damage in Kyiv was caused by Ukrainian air defence systems.
"We continue to insist that we do not strike civilian targets," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing today.
Russia currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council and its envoy to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, indicated earlier this month he will take a firm line with Ukraine and its Western allies.
As a permanent member of the UN's top security body, Moscow wields a veto which it has used on several occasions to thwart efforts to censure its war in Ukraine.
It initially appeared that Russia would seek to block Ukraine from participating in today's meeting after Mr Nebenzya said Kyiv had not correctly formatted its letter requesting to participate.
Ukraine could participate "only on condition it was requested by the United States... we regret that Ukraine cannot act independently... (and) it has to be led by its sponsor," Mr Nebenzya said.
"Mr president, we are appalled by the strikes on Ukraine by the country that you are representing," Slovenia's representative to the UN Samuel Zbogar said to Mr Nebenzya, calling the strikes "brutal" and "another low".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the deadly Russian strikes in Ukraine as "particularly shocking," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said yesterday.
UN rights chief Volker Turk echoed Mr Guterres, calling the attacks "abominable," and saying that "the strikes severely damaged the intensive care, surgical and oncology wards of Okhmatdyt, which is Ukraine's largest children's referral hospital".
Mr Zelensky has been urging allies to bolster Ukrainian air defence systems and was expected to renew those calls as a NATO summit kicked off later today in Washington.
Earlier, the head of the UN human rights monitoring mission said, citing its own analysis, that the strike on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv was likely caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile.
"Analysis of the video footage and an assessment made at the incident site indicates a high likelihood that the children's hospital suffered a direct hit rather than receiving damage due to an intercepted weapon system," Danielle Bell, head of mission for the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said.
She added that her team, who visited the site yesterday, could not make a final determination but that the missile appeared to have been launched by the Russian Federation.
The hospital treats children with serious conditions, such as cancer and kidney disease, and had around 670 child patients and some 1,000 staff at the time of the attack, Ms Bell said.
"Staff had moved the children to a bunker yesterday morning when the air raid sirens first went off otherwise the casualties would have been much higher," she said.
The Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) also presented new evidence it said proved that the hospital had been directly hit by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile.
"The experts' conclusions are unequivocal - it was a direct strike," the SBU said on Telegram.
It shared images of a missile engine fragment it said was found at the site. The SBU added that analysis of trajectory and nature of damage caused prove it was a direct strike.
Rescue workers were clearing debris after the deadly strikes, with cranes and first responders working at the scene of the Okhmatdyt paediatric hospital.
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Mr Zelensky said rescue work was ongoing at several of the attack sites and that patients from Okhmatdyt had been transferred to other facilities.
Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Mr Zelensky said more than 100 buildings had been damaged, including the children's hospital and a maternity centre in Kyiv, children's nurseries and a business centre and homes.
"The Russian terrorists must answer for this," he wrote. "Being concerned does not stop terror. Condolences are not a weapon."
The interior ministry said there had also been damage in the central cities of Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro and two eastern cities.
An online video obtained by Reuters showed a missile falling towards the children's hospital followed by a large explosion. The location of the video was verified from visible landmarks.
The Security Service of Ukraine identified the missile as an Kh-101 cruise missile.
Ukraine's military authorities said 27 people had died in the capital, including three children, and 82 were wounded in the main missile volley and a strike that came two hours later.
Damage across the capital
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack was one of the largest of the war, causing damage in seven city districts. Ukraine's health minister said five units of the children's hospital were damaged and children were evacuated to other facilities.
Eleven people were confirmed dead in the Dnipropetrovsk region and 68 were wounded, regional officials said.
Three people were killed in the eastern town of Pokrovsk where missiles hit an industrial facility, the governor said.
Mr Zelensky, addressing a news conference in Warsaw alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, called on Kyiv's western allies to give a firm response to the attack.
"We will retaliate against these people, we will deliver a powerful response from our side to Russia, for sure. The question to our partners is: can they respond?" Mr Zelensky said.
The attack came as leaders of NATO countries are due to begin a three-day summit, with the war in Ukraine one of the focuses.
Yesterday, Taoiseach Simon Harris called Russia's missile attack in Kyiv "a war crime".
