Bellingcat has verified that a Russian X-101 missile struck the Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv on Monday, July 8. Journalists from the investigative group used open-source data, including video footage and photographs of debris from the scene, to make their conclusion.
The strike on the Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital killed at least two hospital workers and injured 16 others, including at least three children. However, the complete number of casualties remains uncertain.
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The team compared a 3D model of the X-101 missile with images of the missile captured on video. Key identifying features, such as a jet engine in the tail section and two short wings in the middle, matched the characteristics of the Russian X-101 missile.
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Additionally, Bellingcat analysed photos of rocket debris published by the SBU, Ukraine's Security Service. These photos showed fragments similar to parts previously identified as belonging to the X-101 missile.
Bellingcat compared the images published by SBU with the photos and videos taken at the scene—including the footage by Kyiv Post—and was able to geolocate the debris indirectly, confirming its proximity to the children's hospital.
The article also addressed claims from Russian propagandists that the hospital was hit by an AIM-120 missile from an American NASAMS air defense system.
Jackson Hinkle, a political activist who has appeared on Russian state media, was one of the individuals who made the incorrect claim that the missile was US-made.
Bellingcat showed that the AIM-120 lacks the tail unit seen in the video and has a different nose shape compared to the missile in question.
“The claim that the missile was an AIM-120 ignores the jet engine prominently hanging from the empennage of the missile that hit the hospital. This highly visible feature is present on the Kh-101, but not on the AIM-120. Furthermore, the wings in the mid-section of the missile that hit the hospital are a mismatch for those on an AIM-120,” the Bellingcat publication says.
Nevertheless, Bellingcat created a 3D model of an AIM-120 missile to test this theory. When compared to images of the missile that hit the hospital, several differences were clear. The AIM-120's forward fins did not match, its nose was much sharper, and it lacked the jet engine seen at the rear of the missile in the hospital strike video.
Russian Forces launched a massive missile attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities at around 10 a.m. local time on Monday, July 8. The Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that 38 missiles were launched into Ukraine. Of the 13 X-101 missiles, air defense forces managed to shoot down 11.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that the shelling of Kyiv on July 8 resulted in 33 deaths, including four children, and injured 121 people, 10 of whom were children.
Attacking a hospital is considered a war crime.
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