Ten killed in Russian drone strikes on hospital in northeastern Ukraine’s Sumy region

A Russian drone strike on a hospital in the capital of northeastern Ukraine’s Sumy region on Saturday morning killed 10 people and injured another 22, according to the regional authorities.

Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the first of two Shahed drones destroyed several floors of the hospital, and that the second strike came as patients and staff were being evacuated.

There were 86 patients and 38 employees present in the hospital at the moment of the attack, the Sumy regional Prosecutor’s Office said, adding that one policeman had been killed and another injured.

The Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had opened an investigation into the attacks on the basis of premeditated murder and the violation of the laws and customs of war.

Earlier this month in Sumy, one person was killed and at least 14 others were injured in a Russian airstrike on a retirement home in the city, which lies in close proximity to the border with Russia’s Kursk region, into which Ukrainian forces launched an incursion in early August, aiming to create a “buffer zone”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the time.

Reacting to the attack on Saturday morning, Zelensky, who has spent the past week in the United States attempting to rally cross-party support for his victory plan, urged the world to “pay attention to where Russia is striking”, adding that, “Only force can force Russia to peace. Peace through strength is the only way.”