Ukrainian Foreign Minister claims Russia attacked a kindergarten and orphanage

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba claimed on Friday that invading Russian troops attacked a kindergarten and an orphanage. The official qualified these actions as "war crimes."

Kuleba said he is gathering information on the attacks in order to send evidence to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Today’s Russian attacks on a kindergarten and an orphanage are war crimes and violations of the Rome Statute. Together with the General Prosecutor’s Office we are collecting this and other facts, which we will immediately send to the Hague. Responsibility is inevitable.

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 25, 2022

"Today's Russian attacks on a kindergarten and an orphanage are war crimes and violations of the Rome Statute. Together with the Prosecutor General's Office we are compiling this and other facts, which we will immediately send to [the International Criminal Court in] The Hague. Responsibility is inevitable," the Ukrainian foreign minister posted on his Twitter account.

The governor of the Sumy region, Dmytro Zhivitsky, warned that Ukrainian forces in the area fought Moscow's forces overnight on Thursday. However, Russian convoys continued their advance towards Kyiv. The head of the military administration in the same region claimed there were "hurricanes" of shelling in residential areas of Okhtyrka, news outlet UnomasOne reported.

According to U.S. intelligence reports released on Thursday, the Russian army has launched "more than 160 airstrike missiles," including "a combination of medium-range and cruise missiles." The first bombardments were recorded in Kyiv, Mariupol, Odesa, Lviv, and Kharkiv during the early hours of the morning, wrote outlet La Razon.

The Kyiv Interior Ministry condemned Russia's shelling of civilian sites in Ukraine on Thursday. "The Russians say they are not targeting civilian objects, but 33 civilian sites have been attacked over the past 24 hours," said Vadym Denysenko, a Ukrainian Interior Ministry official, cited by Interfax.

"The enemy attacks are not only military installations, as he [Putin] claims, but also on civilians. They kill people and turn peaceful towns into military targets. This is vile and will never be forgiven," President Volodymir Zelensky said as he addressed the Ukrainian population in a broadcast on Friday.