How European media spread Russia fakes about Okhmatdyt Kyiv children’s hospital attack

InsightNews analyzed what European outlets, particularly German and French, were involved in the campaign.

Following the Russian missile attack on Kyiv’s children’s hospital Okhmatdyt on July 8, pro-Kremlin media in Germany spread disinformation about the strike. Biased reports manipulated the tragic event to propagate Russian claims and deflect blame from Russian troops.

Eyewitness videos quickly refuted Russian claims that falling debris caused the damage. When this was debunked, Russian propaganda shifted to blaming an air defense missile. However, numerous fact-checkers, OSINT analysts, and the official investigation confirmed it was a Russian Kh-101 missile. Investigations by Bellingcat and GeoConfirmed substantiated this.

Despite these findings, pro-Russian news sites in Germany and France continued to disseminate biased reports. DE.RT and Sputnik, under EU sanctions for spreading disinformation, led the campaign. 

Pro-Kremlin German media spreading Russian fakes about attack on Kyiv children's hospital

Examples of disinformation include claims that a NATO missile hit the hospital, a Ukrainian SAM caused the damage, and US missiles were responsible. These narratives aim to confuse and mislead the public, obscuring the truth about the Russian missile strike.

The first to spread Russia’s false claims on the missile attack on Kyiv children’s hospital to German-speaking audiences were DE.RT (the German version of the Russian state-owned media platform) and Sputnik, both under EU sanctions for spreading disinformation and supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Outlets like Uncut News, Aktuelle Nachrichten, Sott.net, Anti-Spiegel, Global Bridge, and Overton magazine echoed the false claims, often without citing official or fact-checked sources.

“Russian attack on children’s hospital? “No, this is Ukrainian disinformation.”

Ukrainian cities such as Kiev (Russian spelling for Kyiv - ed.) are protected by Patriot anti-aircraft systems…For still unexplained reasons, a NATO anti-aircraft missile has landed on a children’s hospital, reports blogger Juri Podoljaka. Ukrainian air defense is the most dangerous for the civilian population.”

• https://uncutnews.ch/russischer-angriff-auf-kinderkrankenhaus-nein-das-ist-ukrainische-desinformation/
• https://aktuelle-nachrichten.app/russischer-angriff-auf-kinderkrankenhaus-nein-das-ist-ukrainische-desinformation/

“Ukrainian and Western media speak of a Russian war crime – but what really hit a children’s hospital in Kiev and other civilian objects on Monday morning? There is much to suggest that it was once again a “gloss achievement” of the Ukrainian air defense… As far as the Ochmadet Hospital in Kiev is concerned, there are two hypotheses. After the first, a Ukrainian NASAMS SAM followed the X-101 and did not catch up with it. As a result, the Ukrainian SAM hit the hospital.”

• https://de.sott.net/article/36077-Kiew-und-das-Mediengeschrei-Wovon-wurde-das-Kinderkrankenhaus-wirklich-getroffen

“Western media report with many emotional images that Russia attacked a hospital in Kiev. However, the recordings of the incident show that the targeted rocket flying down is a US rocket that was probably fired by a Norwegian rocket launcher.”

• https://anti-spiegel.ru/2024/das-krankenhaus-in-kiew-wurde-von-einer-us-rakete-getroffen/

“The damaged children’s hospital in Kiev – the picture shows great damage, but the real cause is controversial. While the Ukrainian side speaks of a Russian bombing of the children’s hospital – and this version was of course taken over by all Western media – the Russian side says that it was the result of a rocket shot down over the hospital. There will be no independent investigation, Ukraine has always prevented independent investigations, as one knows at the latest since the arson attack on the union building in Odessa.” 

• https://globalbridge.ch/ein-vabanquespiel-mit-hoechsteinsatz-oder-stell-dir-vor-der-krieg-kommt-naeher-und-keinen-juckts/

“Strategic communication and cognitive warfare are flourishing before the NATO summit. Kiev claims it is a deliberate attack, Russia blames a crashed anti-aircraft missile. Since it is not known which missiles have overcome the anti-aircraft and hit targets directly or which were shot down, so that parts of them or the missiles of the air defense have caused damage, a neutral assessment is difficult. The Ukrainian government claims that the Russian armed forces targeted the children’s hospital with a rocket during the day. No child was killed, but seven children and nine adults were injured, two adults, including a doctor, died.

[Russian Defense Ministry direct quote with link]” 

• https://overton-magazin.de/top-story/wurde-das-kinderkrankenhaus-okhmatdyt-absichtlich-von-russischen-truppen-angegriffen/

“Since it became known that a children’s hospital in Ukraine was hit by a rocket, the media and politicians alike have been raging in Germany. Immediately after the tragic event, someone was on the spot who claimed that the attack was deliberately carried out by the Russians. Verified? Of course, that wasn’t, in 2024 the review of a report will be overvalued anyway. Everything that was reported to the children’s hospital in Kiev has news value in the Western mainstream. Everything that comes from Moscow is the worst propaganda. This is so badly and amateurishly made that clearly-thinking people would actually have to stumble over it. But very few do, and that is the real tragedy of this propaganda battle.”

• https://de.rt.com/meinung/211830-raketenangriff-auf-ukrainisches-kinderkrankenhaus-russe/

Telepolis' coverage deserves special attention. It did not support the Kremlin's version but also did not condemn the missile strikes on Ukraine, including the attack on the children’s hospital in Kyiv. Instead, it accused German politicians advocating for additional air defense systems for Ukraine of ‘propaganda’.

The media emphasized the necessity for peace talks without specifying any framework or pre-conditions. It described Putin’s recent 'proposal' for Ukraine as a demand for capitulation and the surrender of new territories and omitted the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland held in June.

The article highlighted the two deaths in the Kyiv strike and compared them to sixteen victims in a Gaza school strike, accusing the West of 'double standards'. It questioned whether there is a ‘standard’ for the number of deaths required to condemn perpetrators and support defense capabilities.

“After the impact of a Russian cruise missile near a children’s hospital in Kiev, the horror is great. In Germany, several politicians and lobbyists demanded increased arms deliveries to Ukraine. The smoke of the impact had not yet been warped, the rubble had not been put away for a long time, then the debate sank back into morality and propaganda.

The aggressiveness of the debate, which is partly specifically aimed at discrediting any alternative or flanking to further military support for Ukraine, at the same time obstructs a realistic view of the Ukrainian and pan-European perspective of the conflict.

PS: According to information on site, two people died in Russia’s attack on the Ochmatdyt children’s hospital in Kiev.

PPS: According to information on site, 16 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a school in Gaza.”

• https://www.telepolis.de/features/Angriff-auf-Kinderklinik-in-Kiew-Warum-dieser-Luftschlag-keine-Konsequenzen-haben-wird-9795530.html

Jackson Hinkle, a political activist appearing on Russian state media, incorrectly claimed the missile was US-made. Hinkle has been banned from several social media platforms for spreading fake news.

Pro-Kremlin French media spread Russian disinformation about Kyiv children's hospital attack

The main target of pro-Kremlin media in France has been to spread the false claim that an AIM-120 air defense missile hit the hospital. However, it was proven that a Russian Kh-101 missile caused the damage, as confirmed by its shape in the video and the wreckage at the impact site.

Here’s what the pro-Kremlin French newspaper Reseau International wrote:

“The pathetic false propaganda of the Atlanticist merdias has once again been proven wrong: the attack on the Kiev pediatric hospital on July 8, 2024, was not carried out by a Russian missile but was the result of a misfire by the Ukrainian-Atlanticist air defense system… The reality is that it was an AIM-120 missile from a NATO NASAMS anti-aircraft system.”

• https://reseauinternational.net/fact-checking-de-lattaque-de-lhopital-pediatrique-de-kiev-du-08-07-2024

The pro-Kremlin media outlet referred to the anonymous French-language Telegram channel infodefenseFRreserve, which was the first to spread this disinformation. 

These pieces were produced by authors such as Vincent Gouysse and Erwan Castel, who picked up disinformation from Russian and English-language sources promoting Kremlin narratives and fakes. They attempt to shift responsibility for the Russian strike onto Ukraine and avoid addressing the fact that Russia has been firing missiles at Ukrainian cities.

These disinformation efforts were led by key Russian state international multilingual propaganda platforms, RT and Sputnik, both banned in the EU for spreading disinformation and supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. RT articles quote Putin’s spokesman, Peskov, blaming Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles:

“The Kremlin stressed on July 9 that Russia never strikes civilian targets, denouncing the fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile on a children’s hospital in Kiev. “We are talking about the fall of an anti-missile system,” insisted Dmitri Peskov, stressing that the Russian army never targets civilians: “Strikes are carried out against critical infrastructure for military purposes, linked in one way or another to the regime’s military potential,”  he added.

• https://francais.rt.com/russie/112232-direct-entretien-entre-poutine-modi
• https://francais.rt.com/russie/112234-frappes-kiev-kremlin-denonce-chute-missile-ukrainien

Sputnik followed the partners from the Kremlin-owned propaganda media network. 

“Russia only strikes targets related to Kiev’s military potential, assures Dmitri Peskov. The Russian Defense Ministry had previously denied claims that civilian sites had been targeted by Russia in Ukraine. According to the Ministry, the damage caused on Monday was due to the fall of a Ukrainian anti-missile.”

• https://fr.sputniknews.africa/20240709/la-russie-ne-frappe-que-les-cibles-ayant-trait-au-potentiel-militaire-de-kiev-assure-dmitri-peskov-1067429699.html

These false reports on a tragic event and an alleged war crime were disseminated by several other pro-Russian outlets: NewsNet, Stratpol, and RRN.

“Hospital strike: Peskov accuses Kiev of “bloody” PR operations.”

• http://www.newsnet.fr/252241

“Moscow accuses a US missile of hitting a children’s hospital in Kiev. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the impact of a missile from the NASAMS anti-aircraft missile system on the territory of a children’s hospital in Kiev had been confirmed. She commented on the destruction of the Okhmatdyt medical facility.”

• https://stratpol.com/moscou-accuse-un-missile-americain-detre-tombe-sur-un-hopital-pour-enfants-de-kiev

“Given the force of the strike, it seems more likely that the vessel was hit by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile. The shape of the missile corresponds to that of the American AIM-120 of the NASAMS air defense system.”

• https://rrn.media/fr/lotan-se-desaffectionne-de-lukraine

The pro-Russian website Egalite et Reconciliation, led by far-right conspiracy theorist Alain Soral, did not support the claim that an AIM-120 missile hit the hospital but also did not condemn the Russian attack. Instead, it mentions the Kremlin’s version and attempts to soften the blame on Russia by drawing manipulative comparisons between Russian strikes on Ukraine and Israeli strikes on Gaza.

“(Russian missile strike) For the Western press, while Russia defends itself by blaming yet another US ground-to-air defense strike, this is indeed a war crime. However, this event, which happens almost daily in Gaza and doesn’t make the same waves, seems to “launch” the big NATO summit in Washington, putting Russia back in the camp of absolute evil.”

• https://egaliteetreconciliation.fr/La-Russie-a-t-elle-decide-de-bombarder-massivement-les-villes-76140.html

The dissemination of disinformation by pro-Kremlin media not only distorts reality but exacerbates the suffering of those affected by the attack. 

• Read more on how Europe struggles in dealing with Russian disinformation in an interview with Anna Melenchuk, co-founder of the Institute for Innovative Governance.