Kyiv children's hospital partially reopens week after Russian missile attack

Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv has partially resumed medical services a week after being devastated by a Russian missile attack. 

Work is continuing to rebuild the medical facility, with heavy equipment being used to clear debris from the hospital grounds. 

Flowers and stuffed animals were placed at the hospital entrance where it is believed a missile struck. 

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy had said last week the equivalent of $9.6 million (€8.82m) would be allocated in order to rebuild the hospital.

“I don’t know what the rules of war are if they hit a children’s hospital where children are being saved and given life,” said the father of one of the patients. 

The hospital, which is the biggest one for children in all of Ukraine, had been partially levelled by a Russian missile last Monday. 

At least 44 people were killed and dozens of children already battling life-threatening diseases were injured. 

The 10-story hospital was caring for 627 patients at the time of the attack, according to the Ukrainian health minister. 

The strike on the hospital was internationally condemned, as it interrupted open-heart surgery and forced young cancer patients to take their treatment outdoors.

It took place during Russia’s heaviest bombardment of Kyiv in almost four months and one of the deadliest of the entire war, according to Ukrainian officials.