Maternity missile horror
Russian blitz kills baby – but mother and doctor saved from rubble
RUSSIAn invaders killed a two-day-old Ukrainian boy yesterday when they attacked a maternity ward in the southern town of Vilniansk.
The missile strike happened in the early hours of the morning close to the city of Zaporizhzhia, which remains under Ukraine’s control, some 30 miles from the frontline.
The infant’s mother, who has not yet been named, and a doctor were pulled alive from the rubble by the emergency services.
Footage released by authorities showed rescue teams sifting through the destroyed building as smoke billowed into the sky.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack was intentional and accused Russia of ‘terror and murder.’ His wife, first lady Olena Zelenska said the strike had caused the country ‘horrible pain’ vowing that ‘we will never forget and never forgive.’
Moscow’s troops control parts of the wider Zaporizhzhia region that Russia bogusly claims as its own territory after a fake referendum was held in September.
Vladimir Putin’s armed forces have hit medical sites several times over the past nine months, including bombing a children’s and maternity hospital in March.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there have been more than 700 attacks on healthcare infrastructure.
‘Ukraine’s health system is facing its darkest days in the war so far,’ said WHO Europe director Hans Kluge.
The Russian defence ministry failed to respond to the Mail’s request for comment.
In a sharp change in tone, Pope Francis lashed out at Russia yesterday by linking the present-day suffering to the 1930s ‘ genocide artificially caused by Stalin.’
The dictator created a famine that is believed to have killed more than three million people.
The Pope has previously avoided openly criticising the Kremlin.
Shortly after his address, sirens blared as Russia launched more attacks on Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv. Mayor Vitali Klitschk said an important energy site had been hit.
Last night also saw Ukraine’s western city of Lviv shrouded in darkness amid the wave of missile attacks across the country.
Lviv’s mayor Andriy Sadovyi said half of the city was without electricity, while authorities had managed to restore water supplies to nearly two-thirds of its residents.
Meanwhile the country’s armed forces said Ukrainian air defences successfully intercepted 51 projectiles of the 70 cruise missiles launched by Russia yesterday.