At least 31 have been killed and over 135 injured as Russian bombers pummeled Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and numerous cities throughout the nation on 8 July with more than 40 missiles and guided aerial bombs.
Among the sites struck was the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, where two adults died and 16 were injured, including seven children.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported on his X (formerly Twitter) account that one of those adult victims was 30-year-old Svitlana Lukyanchuk, a Lviv-born pediatric nephrologist.
With rescue efforts ongoing, the casualty count is expected to rise. A day of mourning was declared for 9 July in Kyiv.
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, released statement, 8 July, denouncing the strike.
“Today we cry with all the victims,” said Archbishop Shevchuk. “Today we want to pray for all the dead, especially innocently killed children. Today, we want to wrap our Christian love around all the wounded, all those who are currently hurting the most.”
He concluded his statement with a prayer “for the protection and victory of the lives of our children and women.
“Merciful God, bless our long-suffering Ukrainian land with your just peace,” he said.
Associated Press footage of the attack showed dozens of individuals digging through the rubble to free survivors, with bandaged hospital patients being carried in their mother’s arms to shelter.
Ukraine President Volodmyr Zelenskyy called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council in response to the strike on civilian infrastructure, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Two joint reports from the New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights have determined Russia’s invasion — which continues attacks launched in 2014 — constitutes genocide, with Ukraine reporting more than 135,141 war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine since February 2022.
During its recent meeting in Bucharest, Romania, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing Russia’s 10-year aggression against Ukraine as genocide.