Attack on Okhmatdet: Russian general served with suspicion notice in absentia
10 September 2024 15:58
The Security Service and the Office of the Prosecutor General have identified the Russian general who commanded the missile attack on the medical building of the National Children’s Hospital “Okhmatdyt” in Kyiv on 8 July this year. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the SBU.
It turned out to be Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash, who at the time served as commander of the long-range aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces, and later, after the strike, was promoted and appointed commander of the Russian Air Force.
“During the investigation, the SBU, together with the Prosecutor General’s Office, did a tremendous job. We interrogated 112 victims and 50 witnesses, conducted explosive, forensic and other examinations, analysed video from CCTV cameras,” said SBU Deputy Head Serhii Naumyuk during a working meeting with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan and Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin.
According to the investigation, on 8 July 2024, at 9.15 am, on the order of Kobylash. 15 a.m., a Russian Tu-95MS bomber launched an X-101 missile at a children’s hospital in Kyiv.
According to the Deputy Head of the SBU, the attack on the Okhmatdyt was carried out by the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
It has been established that the enemy aircraft took off from an airfield near the Russian city of Olenegorsk and launched the missile over the Saratov region of Russia, almost 600 km from the Ukrainian border.
From the territory of Russia, the X-101 entered the airspace of our country in the Chernihiv region and began to manoeuvre, constantly changing its flight path through the territories of four regions.
This indicates that the missile was programmed to “bypass” Ukrainian air defences as much as possible and then hit the medical facility.
At approximately 10 hrs. 45 a.m., a Russian X-101 hit the intensive and efferent therapy unit for acute and chronic intoxication at the Okhmatdyt hospital.
The shelling killed 2 people, including a paediatric nephrologist. Another 35 people were injured, including 9 children.
The shelling also damaged administrative buildings, medical, laboratory and diagnostic buildings, a transformer substation, utility rooms and the hospital’s heating station.
At the scene, law enforcement officers found the remains of an enemy missile with markings indicating that it was manufactured at the Russian Raduga Design Bureau in the second quarter of 2024.
Based on the collected evidence, SBU investigators served Kobylash a notice of suspicion in absentia under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder committed by a group of persons).
“Kobylash is currently a suspect in other war crimes in Ukraine. In particular, he was responsible for the shelling of civilian energy infrastructure in 2022-2023. In March 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Kobylash for these war crimes,” said Naumyuk.
As the perpetrator is on the territory of Russia, comprehensive measures are being taken to bring him to justice for crimes against our country.
