Ukraine says at least three dead in Russian airstrike on hospital

At least three people were killed and eight others injured after Russian missiles struck a hospital in southern Ukraine, said the country’s emergency services.

Missiles had struck and damaged two buildings of the hospital in Selydove town late on Tuesday, interior minister Ihor Klymenko had said in an earlier statement.

He had warned in his statement that casualties would increase as officials assessed damage from the attack.

Rescue workers finished clearing the rubble after sifting through the remains night and day, 24 hours after the attack, emergency services said on Wednesday. A whole section of the building had totally collapsed, they said.

“Another body was recovered from the rubble of the hospital building,” the State Emergency Service wrote on Telegram.

“In total, three people were killed in the missile strike.”

At least eight others were also injured in the attack.

A few minutes after the attack on the hospital on Tuesday, a coal mine was targeted in another missile strike.

One worker there was killed and 39 miners had been trapped underground due to the impact of the attack.

The workers were, however, brought to the surface and confirmed to be safe, said the interior minister Mr Klymenko.

Selydove, a town in Donetsk oblast that has largely been occupied by Russia, was also targeted in a missile attack a week before. That attack had struck an apartment block in the southern town.

Russia has not issued a statement on its attack on the hospital and has rarely spoken about the several hundred strikes that have struck civilian buildings during the course of its full-scale Ukraine invasion.

Even though Russia has falsely claimed it only targets military infrastructure, Vladimir Putin’s forces have deliberately targeted civilians and killed hundreds in frequent air strikes.

Frequent missile strikes and shelling has resulted in thousands fleeing war hotspots like Bakhmut and Avdiivka, where Russian forces are now trying to consolidate military positions.