Russia strikes Kharkiv hospital, UN convoy as Ukraine seeks US Tomahawks

The latest attacks connected civilians travel days earlier talks successful which Zelenskyy hopes to unafraid the long-range missiles from Trump.

Russian forces person struck a infirmary and a United Nations convoy successful Ukraine, officials say, successful attacks apt to bolster President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s transportation for long-range Tomahawk missiles erstwhile helium meets his United States counterpart aboriginal this week.

Officials said connected Tuesday that overnight attacks involving drones and glide bombs struck a infirmary successful Kharkiv, injuring 57 radical and forcing the evacuation of 50 patients.

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Meanwhile, Russian forces attacked a UN convoy that was delivering assistance to the front-line municipality of Bilozerka successful the partially occupied confederate portion of Kherson, UN and Ukrainian officials said. No casualties were reported.

The attacks successful Kharkiv and Kherson – condemned, respectively, by Zelenskyy arsenic a “terrorist” onslaught and by the UN arsenic a usurpation of planetary instrumentality – travel days earlier a scheduled gathering betwixt Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump successful Washington, DC, connected Friday erstwhile the brace is expected to sermon the imaginable proviso of long-range, precision-strike Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv to let it to deed backmost astatine Moscow.

Trump has suggested successful caller days that helium was considering providing Kyiv with Tomahawks, which would beryllium the longest-range missiles successful Ukraine’s arsenal and could let it to accurately onslaught targets heavy wrong Russia, including Moscow.

Washington had antecedently ruled retired supplying Ukraine with the cruise missiles, which the Kremlin has warned could person superior consequences and would entail nonstop US engagement successful the conflict.

Hospital attacked

The overnight attacks connected Kharkiv, Ukraine’s 2nd largest city, deed the city’s main hospital, Zelenskyy said successful a station connected X.

He described the strikes arsenic an “utterly terrorist, cynical onslaught connected a spot wherever lives are saved”.

A Russian onslaught caused injuries, evacuations and harm astatine a infirmary successful Kharkiv, Ukraine [Handout/Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP]

He said the main targets of the overnight raids crossed the state had erstwhile again been vigor facilities and powerfulness facilities successful the Kherson and Sumy regions were hit.

“Every day, each night, Russia strikes powerfulness plants, powerfulness lines, and our [natural] state facilities,” Zelenskyy said connected Telegram.

For the past 3 years, Russia has started to people Ukraine’s powerfulness grid earlier each wintertime successful a run to demoralise the colonisation by leaving millions without powerfulness successful freezing conditions.

In effect to the escalating attacks connected Ukraine’s vigor facilities, which forced outages crossed the state connected Monday successful a bid to trim unit connected the grid, Zelenskyy has called connected Ukraine’s allies to assistance blunt Russia’s long-range attacks by providing much aerial defence systems.

Ukraine has dispatched a elder delegation to Washington to sermon boosting its defence and vigor resilience, officials said connected Monday.

Attack connected assistance convoy

Meanwhile, successful Kherson, the UN said its convoy of 4 vehicles, intelligibly marked with World Food Programme branding, came nether onslaught from Russian drones and artillery portion delivering aid.

Two trucks were damaged successful the onslaught though nary 1 was injured, said the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale.

“Such attacks are utterly unacceptable. Aid workers are protected by planetary humanitarian instrumentality and should ne'er beryllium attacked,” helium said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the onslaught “another brutal usurpation of planetary law, proving Russia’s utter disregard for civilian lives and its planetary obligations”.

The UN’s intersexual and reproductive wellness agency, UNFPA, told the AFP quality bureau that the convoy was carrying 800 idiosyncratic packages “containing indispensable items for older persons, women and girls”.

Aid groups person reported passim the astir four-year penetration that their unit and facilities person travel nether onslaught from Russian forces.