Russian Daytime Attack on Ukraine Kills at Least 20, Hits Children's Hospital in Kyiv

FILE - Ukrainian soldiers of the 71st Jaeger Brigade fire a M101 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline, near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - Ukrainian soldiers of the 71st Jaeger Brigade fire a M101 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline, near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
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Russian Daytime Attack on Ukraine Kills at Least 20, Hits Children's Hospital in Kyiv

FILE - Ukrainian soldiers of the 71st Jaeger Brigade fire a M101 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline, near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - Ukrainian soldiers of the 71st Jaeger Brigade fire a M101 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline, near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

Russia launched a barrage of missiles on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in a rare daytime attack on Monday, killing at least 20 people across the country and hitting a key children's hospital, officials said. 
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Russian forces fired more than 40 missiles targeting different cities and damaging infrastructure, commercial and residential buildings in different Ukrainian cities. 
Kyiv city authorities said seven people were killed and at least 25 were wounded in the strike on the capital. 
In Kryviy Rih, the native city of Zelenskiy, 10 people were killed and 31 were injured, said Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul. Another three people died in Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine when missiles hit an industrial facility, said Donestk regional governor. 
"All services are involved to save as many people as possible," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app. "And the whole world should use all its determination to finally put an end to the Russian strikes." 
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians. 
The major attack on Ukraine came as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss a potential Ukraine peace deal, paying an unexpected visit to Beijing. 
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack on the capital was one of the heaviest since the start of Russia's invasion in February 2022. He said the city's main children hospital was damaged in the strike. Windows were smashed and panels ripped off. Parents holding babies walked out into the street, dazed and sobbing. "We heard an explosion, then we were showered with debris,” Svitlaka Kravchenko, 33, told Reuters after she and her husband Viktor, went out from the shelter.
 Their two-month-old baby had been unharmed, but Svitlana had suffered cuts, and their car was totally buried under the rubble of the destroyed building across the courtyard from the main ward.
“It was scary. I couldn’t breathe, I was trying to cover (my baby). I was trying to cover him with this cloth so that he could breathe," she said. 
Local and regional authorities said industrial facilities, infrastructure and residential and commercial buildings were damaged in Kyi, Kryviy Rih, Dnipro, Pokrovsk, Kramatarosk and others.
 



Iran Oil Minister Visits Key Oil Terminal amid Israel Strike Fears

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad (L) welcomes Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (R) upon his arrival at the Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, 30 September 2024. EPA/DMITRY ASTAKHOV
Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad (L) welcomes Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (R) upon his arrival at the Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, 30 September 2024. EPA/DMITRY ASTAKHOV
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Iran Oil Minister Visits Key Oil Terminal amid Israel Strike Fears

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad (L) welcomes Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (R) upon his arrival at the Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, 30 September 2024. EPA/DMITRY ASTAKHOV
Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad (L) welcomes Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (R) upon his arrival at the Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, 30 September 2024. EPA/DMITRY ASTAKHOV

Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad landed on Kharg island, the oil ministry's news website Shana reported on Sunday, amid concerns that Israel could target Iran's largest oil terminal there.
An Israeli military spokesman said on Saturday that Israel would retaliate, following last week's missile attack by Tehran, "when the time is right."

Following Iran's attack, Axios cited Israeli officials as saying that Iran's oil facilities could be hit in response. US President Joe Biden said on Friday that he did not think Israel had yet concluded how to respond.

"Paknejad arrived this morning in order to visit the oil facilities and meet operational staff located on Kharg island," Shana reported, adding that the oil terminal there has the capacity to store 23 million barrels of crude.

China, which does not recognize US sanctions, is Tehran's main client and according to analysts imported 1.2 to 1.4 million barrels per day from Iran in the first half of 2024.