Zelensky visits injured children at devastated Kyiv hospital
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, together with First Lady Olena, visited children who were victims of Russia's brutal attack on Ochmatdyt Children's Hospital. A touching video was posted online.
12:28 PM EDT, July 27, 2024
Ochmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv was shelled by Russians on July 8. On that day, the Russians carried out a massive attack on the capital of Ukraine. In the shelling of the city's civilian infrastructure, 34 people were killed, including five children, and more than 120 were injured.
Attack on the children's hospital
The largest children's hospital in Ukraine was destroyed. At the time of the attack, more than 650 children were there—many of them battling cancer.
A few days after the attack, the German Ministry of Development provided the Ukrainian government with 10 million euros ($11 million) to rebuild the hospital. According to the German Ministry of Development, "Ochmatdyt is the most important pediatric hospital in Ukraine, and, for example, children with cancer cannot receive such professional help in any other medical facility in their country."
On Saturday, President Zelensky and the First Lady visited the children.
"Four-year-old Dmytryk from the village of Myrolubivka in the Zhytomyr region was undergoing another cycle of chemotherapy in the oncology department when Russia shelled Ochmatdyt on July 8. The boy and his mother were among the children and parents whose photos went around the world, and who on that terrible day had to save themselves not only from the disease but also from an attacker deliberately destroying children's hospitals," reads a post by Olena Zelenska.
"But the boy received the necessary medication—even in the hospital's bomb shelter. And now he, like hundreds of children from all over Ukraine, continues treatment at Ochmatdyt, because despite all the losses and destruction, one of the most important children's hospitals in the country is still working," added the First Lady.
President Zelensky added: "The institution is returning to normal work after the Russian attack. I thank everyone who helps the hospital, who were there after the Russian missile hit, cleared the rubble, and supported the children. Thank you to everyone in the world who looked for a solution to support Ukrainians. We will certainly fix everything and prove that life is stronger than the enemy!"
