Rescuers carry the body of a child found in an apartment building that was heavily damaged during a missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 8, 2024. /Reuters
The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday said there was a "high likelihood" that the children's hospital in Kyiv suffered "a direct hit" from a Russian missile.
Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told reporters in Geneva that a deeper investigation was needed, but video footage "shows the weapon directly impacting the hospital."
"Analysis of the video footage and 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 weapons system," said Bell.
The Ukrainian authorities say Russia struck the hospital with a Kh-101 Kalibr missile and rained more missiles down on other cities across Ukraine on Monday, killing at least 41 civilians in the deadliest wave of air strikes for months.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova denied the claim on Tuesday, saying that it was a NASAMS surface-to-air missile launched by Ukraine that hit a children's hospital in Kyiv on Monday.
(With input from agencies)