SGN News Blast: Emergency services on site of destroyed hospital in Zaporizhya region

Footage shows members of the State Service Of Ukraine For Emergency Situations and volunteers clearing away rubble, following reports from the National Police of Ukraine that a maternity hospital in Vilniansk, Zaporozhye region, had been destroyed by strikes on Wednesday.

The State Emergency Service claimed that a newborn child had died as a result of the shelling. The National Police of Ukraine also reported the story, although there was no official video evidence of the incident at the time of publication.

"The impact took the life of an infant and caused minor injuries to his mother. Two more doctors who were injured were given medical assistance," their statement read.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the shelling in a Facebook post, claiming there may be survivors still trapped under the rubble.

“The terrorist state continues to fight against civilians and civilian objects. As a result of a missile attack on the maternity ward of Vilnyansk hospital, an infant died and a woman was injured. There are probably still people under the rubble,” he wrote.

Moscow is yet to comment on the claims about the maternity hospital in Vilniansk. It has strongly denied targeting civilians, saying its strikes are on military and energy infrastructure,

On September 30, President Vladimir Putin agreed to sign documents allowing the accession of Zaporizhya, as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and Kherson to the Russian Federation. According to Moscow, the move followed referenda in which people living in those areas exercised their right to self-determination and requested to join Russia.

Ukraine and its international allies condemned the move, calling it an annexation of Kiev’s sovereign territory.