Donations pour in as Ukraine mourns air attack victims

Donations poured in on Tuesday to help rebuild Kyiv's main children's hospital as Ukraine mourned at least 41 people killed during a major Russian missile assault on the Ukrainian capital and other cities a day earlier.

The head of the UN human rights monitoring mission said Monday's strike on the Okhmatdyt hospital was likely caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile, citing its own analysis. Moscow said the medical facility was struck by Ukrainian anti-missile fire, without providing evidence.

Rescue operations at the hospital ended early on Tuesday, with two dead and dozens wounded after part of the medical facility was reduced to rubble.

Elsewhere in the capital, a woman's body was recovered from the ruins of a residential building where 12 people were killed, Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

"All patients from Okhmatdyt were moved to other medical facilities," said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is travelling to Washington to attend a NATO summit where Kyiv hopes to receive more air defence supplies from its allies.

"We continue our work to increase the defence of our cities and communities against Russian terror. There will be decisions. The world has the required force for that."

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians since launching a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Zelenskiy said nearly 400 people were involved in the rescue effort. He put the death toll at 38 with 190 wounded, although tallies of casualties from impact sites in different regions brought the total to at least 41.

Big Ukrainian businesses have rushed to announce donations to rebuild the children's hospital, which is one of the largest in Europe and provided treatment for various diseases including cancer.

There was no available figure for the total amount of donations, but Reuters calculations based on statements and Ukrainian media reports put the figure from Ukraine's corporate section at about 300 million hryvnia ($7.3 million).

Ukraine is observing a national day of mourning and flew its flags at half mast in the capital and other cities.

Okhmatdyt's general director, Volodymyr Zhovnir, told reporters at the site that one of their young doctors had died and that the building for dialysis had been completely destroyed. They no longer have an electricity supply, he said.

"At least four buildings of the hospital were partially destroyed," he said.