Russia’s Sergei Kobylash is known as as a suspect within the July 8 assault on Okhmatdyt Kids’s Hospital in Kyiv.
A Russian air pressure commander is suspected of ordering a lethal missile strike on a Ukrainian youngsters’s hospital in July, in accordance with Ukraine’s prosecutor common.
The Russian commander directed forces to fireside an air-launched cruise missile on the morning of the July 8 strike, Ukrainian Prosecutor Basic Andriy Kostin mentioned at a information convention on Tuesday.
In a put up on Telegram, the Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) named the commander as Lieutenant Basic Sergei Kobylash.
The assault on the Okhmatdyt Kids’s Hospital in Kyiv killed two individuals and injured 16 whereas wrecking a lot of the ability, together with collapsing the roof of its toxicology division, the place youngsters obtain dialysis.
After the assault, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko accused Russia of making an attempt to wipe out Ukraine’s inhabitants.
“Proper now, the entire world can see how Russian missiles and kamikaze drones killed Ukrainian residents in our peaceable metropolis,” he mentioned on the time.
‘Investigation persevering with’
Whereas Kostin didn’t instantly determine the Russian commander suspected within the strike, the SBU named Kobylash, chief of Russia’s long-range aviation forces on the time of the assault.
Kobylash is already wanted by the Worldwide Prison Courtroom (ICC) for alleged conflict crimes, together with ordering strikes on Ukraine’s vitality programs.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, who additionally attended Tuesday’s information convention, didn’t single out Kobylash however joined Kostin in saying a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile was the doubtless projectile used within the hospital assault.
“It does appear from quite a few sources and the work that’s been carried out {that a} missile, a Kh-101 cruise missile, has been recognized,” Khan mentioned. “A lot of elements should be seemed into additional.”
Kostin added: “We’re persevering with the investigation to seek out different individuals accountable for the strike on Okhmatdyt.”
Russia denies committing conflict crimes in Ukraine and says it doesn’t goal civilians. It has dismissed ICC conflict crime arrest warrants as a part of a biased Western marketing campaign to discredit Russia.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants for six Russian officers, together with President Vladimir Putin.
