Russia's heaviest bombardment of Kyiv in 4 months kills at least 31 and hits a children's hospital

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles blasted cities across Ukraine on Monday, damaging the country's largest children's hospital and other buildings in a fierce assault that interrupted heart surgeries and forced young cancer patients to take their treatments outdoors. At least 31 people were killed, officials said.

The daytime barrage targeted five Ukrainian cities with more than 40 missiles of different types, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. Ukraine's air force said it intercepted 30 missiles. More than 150 people were wounded.

It was Russia’s heaviest bombardment of Kyiv in almost four months, hitting seven of the city’s 10 districts. At least seven people were killed in the capital, including two staff members at the hospital. Strikes in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s birthplace in central Ukraine, killed 10.

The attack on the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital caused debris to fall into heart patients' open chests in the middle of surgery. Cancer patients had their beds wheeled into parks and onto the streets.

"It is very important that the world should not be silent about it now and that everyone should see what Russia is and what it is doing,” Zelenskyy said.

Russia denied attacking the hospital and said the strikes hit military targets.

The assault unfolded a day before Western leaders who have backed Ukraine were scheduled to begin a three-day NATO summit in Washington to consider how they can reassure Kyiv of the alliance’s unwavering support and offer Ukrainians hope that their country can survive Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

Zelenskyy said during a visit to Poland that he hopes the summit will provide more air defense systems for Ukraine.

In a statement, U.S. President Joe Biden called Monday's missile strikes “a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality.”

“It is critical that the world continues to stand with Ukraine at this important moment and that we not ignore Russian aggression,” the statement said.

At the hospital in Kyiv, rescuers searched for victims under the rubble of a partially collapsed, two-story wing of the facility. At the main 10-story building, windows and doors were blown out, and walls were blackened. Blood was spattered on the floor in one room. The intensive care unit, operating theaters and oncology departments all were damaged, officials said.

At the time of the strike, three heart operations were being performed, leading to the contamination of the patients’ open chests with blast debris, Health Minister Viktor Liashko said.

The hospital lost water, light and oxygen, and the patients were transferred to other hospitals, he told Ukrainian television.

Rescuers formed a line, passing bricks and other debris to each other as they sifted through rubble. Smoke rose from the building, and volunteers and emergency crews worked in protective masks.

Some mothers carried their children away on their backs, while others waited in the courtyard with their children as calls to doctors’ phones rang unanswered.

A few hours after the initial strike, another air-raid siren sent many of them hurrying to the hospital’s shelter. Led by a flashlight through the shelter’s dark corridors, mothers carried their bandaged children in their arms, and medical workers carried other patients on gurneys. Volunteers handed out candy to try to calm the children.

Marina Ploskonos said her 4-year-old son had spinal surgery Friday.

“My child is terrified,” she said. “This shouldn’t be happening, it’s a children’s hospital,” she said, bursting into tears.

“Among the victims were Ukraine’s sickest children,” said Volker Türk, the U.N. human rights commissioner. A U.N. team visited the hospital shortly after it was hit and saw the children receiving cancer treatments in hospital beds set up outdoors, he added.

“This is abominable, and I implore those with influence to do everything in their power to ensure these attacks stop immediately,” Türk said.

Kyiv city administrators declared July 9 a day of mourning, when entertainment events are prohibited and flags are lowered.

Ukraine’s Security Service said it found wreckage from a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile at the site and opened proceedings on war crime charges. The Kh-101 is an air-launched missile that flies low to avoid detection by radar. Ukraine said it shot down 11 of 13 Kh-101 missiles launched Monday.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday’s missile strikes “particularly shocking,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on the attacks for Tuesday at the request of France and Ecuador. Russia, which holds the council’s rotating presidency this month, will preside at the meeting.

The International Criminal Court’s founding charter says it is a war crime to intentionally attack "hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives.”

Late last month, the court issued arrest warrants for Russia’s former defense minister and its military chief of staff for attacking Ukraine’s electricity network.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted Ukrainian defense plants and military air bases and were successful. It denied aiming at any civilian facilities and claimed without evidence that pictures from Kyiv indicated the damage was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile.

Since early in the war that is well into its third year, Russian officials have regularly claimed that Moscow’s forces never attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, despite abundant evidence to the contrary, including Associated Press reporting.

More than 1,600 medical facilities have been damaged since the start of the war and 214 have been ruined completely, according to Ukrainian Health Ministry statistics published last month.

Col. Yurii Ignat of the Ukrainian air force said Russia has been improving the effectiveness of its airstrikes, equipping its missiles with enhancements, including so-called heat traps that evade air-defense systems.

In Monday’s attack, the cruise missiles flew as low as 50 meters (160 feet) off the ground, making them harder to hit, he said in comments sent to AP.

About three hours after the first strikes, more missiles hit Kyiv and partially destroyed a private medical center. Four people were killed there, Ukraine’s Emergency Service said.

In the capital’s Shevchenkivskyi district, a three-story section of a residential building was destroyed. Emergency crews searched for casualties, and AP reporters saw them remove three bodies.

The powerful blast wave scorched nearby buildings, shattered windows and flung a dog into a neighboring yard, resident Halina Sichievka said.

“Now we don’t have anything in our apartment, no windows, no doors, nothing. Nothing at all,” the 28-year-old said.

The Ukrainian air force said some of the weapons used in the attack were Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, which are among the most advanced Russian weapons. They fly at 10 times the speed of sound, making them hard to intercept.

Three electricity substations were damaged or destroyed in two districts of Kyiv, energy company DTEK said.

AP journalist Samya Kullab in Kyiv contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A nurse looks at her phone as she takes shelter in a basement after Russian missile hit the country's main children hospital Okhmadit in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. The daytime barrage targeted five Ukrainian cities with more than 40 missiles of different types hitting apartment buildings and public infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. (AP Photo/Anton Shtuka)

People take shelter in a basement after a Russian missile hit the country's main children's hospital Okhmadit in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. The daytime barrage targeted five Ukrainian cities with more than 40 missiles of different types hitting apartment buildings and public infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. (AP Photo/Anton Shtuka)

Rescuers clean up the rubble and search victims after Russian missile hit an apartment house in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Rescuers clean up the rubble and search victims after Russian missile hit an apartment house in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. The daytime barrage targeted five Ukrainian cities with more than 40 missiles of different types hitting apartment buildings and public infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Rescuers, medical staff and volunteers clean up the rubble and search victims after Russian missile hit the country's main children hospital Okhmadit in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. The daytime barrage targeted five Ukrainian cities with more than 40 missiles of different types hitting apartment buildings and public infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. (AP Photo/Anton Shtuka)

Emergency workers respond at the Okhmatdyt children's hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine on Monday killed at least 31 people and injured 154, officials said, with one striking a large children’s hospital in the capital of Kyiv, where emergency crews searched the rubble for victims. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Rescuers and volunteers clean up the rubble and search victims after Russian missile hit the country's main children hospital Okhmadit during massive missile attack on many Ukrainian cities in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Smoke rises up after Russia's massive missile attack in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In this photo released by Ukrainian State Emergency Service, rescuers carry a person after a Russia's missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children's hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties. (Ukrainian State Emergency Service via AP)

Rescuers, volunteers and medical workers clean up the rubble and search victims after Russian missile hit the country's main children hospital Okhmadit during massive missile attack on many Ukrainian cities in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

An injured man talks on the phone after Russia's missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Emergency services work near the site of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian missiles have killed at least seven people and struck a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, authorities say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A child is carried near the site of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian missiles have killed several people and struck a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, authorities say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Rescuers and volunteers clean up the rubble and search victims after Russian missile hit the country's main children hospital Okhmadit during massive missile attack on many Ukrainian cities in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Smoke rises over the Kyiv skyline after a Russian attack, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian forces launched multiple ballistic and cruise missiles against Ukrainian targets on Monday, Ukraine’s air force said, with explosions felt and heard across the capital, Kyiv. (AP Photo/ Evgeniy Maloletka)

Emergency workers at the site of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian missiles have killed at least seven people and struck a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, authorities say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A woman reacts near the site of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian missiles have killed at least seven people and struck a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, authorities say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Rescue workers at the site of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian missiles have killed at least seven people and struck a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, authorities say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Rescue services at the site of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian missiles have killed at least seven people and struck a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, authorities say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In this photo released by Ukrainian State Emergency Service, people and rescuers work at the site of Okhmatdyt children's hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian missiles have killed several people and struck a children's hospital in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, authorities say. (Ukrainian State Emergency Service via AP)

Rescue workers at the site of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian missiles have killed several people and struck a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, authorities say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Rescuers, volunteers and medical workers clean up the rubble and search victims after Russian missile hit the country's main children hospital Okhmadit during massive missile attack on many Ukrainian cities in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Rescuers, volunteers and medical workers, some in bloodied uniforms clean up the rubble and search victims after Russian missile hit the country's main children hospital Okhmadit, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Children wait near the site of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian missiles have killed several people and struck a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, authorities say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Rescuers and volunteers clean up the rubble and search victims after Russian missile hit the country's main children hospital Okhmadit during massive missile attack on many Ukrainian cities in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Smoke rises over the Kyiv skyline after a Russian attack, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian forces launched multiple ballistic and cruise missiles against Ukrainian targets on Monday, Ukraine’s air force said, with explosions felt and heard across the capital, Kyiv. (AP Photo/ Evgeniy Maloletka)

Smoke rises over the Kyiv skyline after a Russian attack, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian forces launched multiple ballistic and cruise missiles against Ukrainian targets on Monday, Ukraine’s air force said, with explosions felt and heard across the capital, Kyiv. (AP Photo/ Evgeniy Maloletka)

Smoke rises over the Kyiv skyline after a Russian attack, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian forces launched multiple ballistic and cruise missiles against Ukrainian targets on Monday, Ukraine’s air force said, with explosions felt and heard across the capital, Kyiv. (AP Photo/ Evgeniy Maloletka)

Smoke rises over the Kyiv skyline after a Russian attack, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian forces launched multiple ballistic and cruise missiles against Ukrainian targets on Monday, Ukraine’s air force said, with explosions felt and heard across the capital, Kyiv. (AP Photo/ Evgeniy Maloletka)

Smoke rises over the Kyiv skyline after a Russian attack, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian forces launched multiple ballistic and cruise missiles against Ukrainian targets on Monday, Ukraine’s air force said, with explosions felt and heard across the capital, Kyiv. (AP Photo/ Evgeniy Maloletka)

An Israeli airstrike hit a mosque in central Gaza and Palestinian officials said at least 19 people were killed early Sunday. Israeli planes also lit up the skyline across the southern suburbs of Beirut, striking what the military said were Hezbollah targets.

The strike in Gaza hit a mosque where displaced people were sheltering near the main hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. Another four people were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people near the town.

The Israeli military said both strikes targeted militants, without providing evidence.

An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue. Hospital records showed that the dead from the strike on the mosque were all men, while another man was wounded.

In Beirut, the strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Lebanon’s only international airport and another formerly used by the Hezbollah-run broadcaster Al-Manar.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. As the Israel-Hamas war reaches the one-year mark, nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.

Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest conflict, most of them since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Here is the latest:

BEIRUT — The southern suburbs of Beirut were hit by more than 30 strikes overnight, the heaviest bombardment since Sept. 23, when Israel began a significant escalation in its air campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Sunday.

The targets included a gas station on the main highway leading to the Beirut airport and a warehouse for medical supplies, the agency said.

Some of the overnight strikes set off a long series of explosions, suggesting that ammunition stores may have been hit.

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron called for “a halt to arms exports for use in Gaza,” saying it's urgent to avoid escalating tensions in the region, his office said.

Macron drew strong criticism from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by saying "the priority is … that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza.” He made the comments in an interview with France Inter radio, which was recorded on Tuesday and aired Saturday.

France doesn’t deliver any weapons to Israel, Macron said.

Netanyahu released a video statement in which he called out the French president by name and referred to such calls as a “disgrace.”

In a statement, Macron’s office said “France is Israel’s unfailing friend. Mr. Netanyahu’s words are excessive and irrelevant to the friendship between France and Israel.”

“We must return to diplomatic solutions,” it added.

The statement also said that Macron had demonstrated his commitment to Israel's security when France mobilized its military resources in response to the Iranian attack. French authorities did not provided details about France’s role.

Macron has called for an immediate cease-fire in both Gaza and Lebanon.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An apparent Israeli airstrike early Sunday killed at least 18 people in central Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said.

The strike hit a mosque sheltering displaced people near the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah, the hospital said in a statement.

An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the hospital morgue. Hospital records showed that the dead were all men. Another two men were critically wounded, the hospital said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment about the strike on the mosque.

The latest strikes add to the mounting Palestinian death toll in Gaza, which is now nearing 42,000 according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but many of the dead were women and children.

BEIRUT — Powerful new explosions rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs late Saturday as Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon, also striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.

Thousands of people in Lebanon, including Palestinian refugees, continued to flee the widening conflict in the region, while rallies were held around the world marking the approaching anniversary of the start of the war in Gaza.

The strong explosions began near midnight after Israel’s military urged residents to evacuate areas in Beirut’s Haret Hreik and Choueifat neighborhoods. AP video showed the blasts illuminating the densely populated southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. They followed a day of sporadic strikes and the nearly continuous buzz of reconnaissance drones.

Israel’s military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

A man checks the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Emergency workers inspect a building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli soldiers pray at a staging area in northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

An Israeli soldier prays at a staging area in northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

People check the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises from a destroyed building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Mourners gather around the bodies of Palestinian men who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)