'We only hit military targets,' Kremlin says on alleged hosp. strike
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Based on the Ukrainian air defense's history of missiles going off course and numerous eyewitness accounts, the missile that struck a children's hospital in Kiev is believed to be Ukrainian.
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Hundreds of people rush to clear debris at the hospital, where windows were smashed and panels ripped off, on July 8, 2024. (AP)
The Russian army strictly carries out strikes on Ukrainian military targets, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, following an attack on a children's hospital in Kiev caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile.
"And we insist that we do not strike at civilian targets," Peskov told reporters when asked about the attack, adding, "The strikes are carried out on critical infrastructure facilities, on military targets, one way or another ... related to the military potential of the regime [in Ukraine]," insisting that the main source of information on such issues would be the comments of the Russian Defense Ministry, which rules out any attacks on civilian infrastructure targets in Ukraine.
On her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, regarding the hospital strike, "Once again, as has happened many times with the Ukrainian air defense, its missiles went off course and hit residential buildings and public institutions."
"So it happened this time. It has already been confirmed, including by numerous witnesses, that one of the missiles of the Western NASAMS air defense system landed in a building on the territory of the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kiev," she added.
Zakharova also stressed Russia's use of precision weapons that hit its intended targets in response to attempts by the Ukrainian military to strike enterprises of the Russian economic complex.
The Russian diplomat slammed Ukraine's use of the tragedy, which has killed at least 41 civilians, as a propaganda weapon by accusing Russia of killing children, describing it as "inhumane" and stating that the Zelensky administration "is indifferent to the fate and lives of fellow citizens, including children."
The diplomat emphasized Ukraine's violation of international humanitarian law of using residential facilities for military purposes, calling out the former Soviet state for using citizens as "human shield[s]" by placing the clinic next to a military plant and the building complex of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
Earlier, on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said the statements about a deliberate Russian strike on civilian targets in Ukraine do not correspond to reality, as the destruction was caused by the fall of a Ukrainian air defense missile.
