Russian pilot defies orders, exposes commanders after hospital attack
When Russia attacked the largest children's hospital in Ukraine, Okhmatdyt in Kyiv, one of the Russian pilots rebelled and provided Kyiv with data that enabled the identification of 30 commanders of the heavy bomber aviation division of the Russian Federation.
As described by Ukrainska Pravda, citing sources in the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, on 8 July, one of the pilots from the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division contacted the Ukrainian intelligence chatbot.
Russian pilot betrayed. He sent secret documents
It is the 22nd Division that continuously bombards Ukrainian cities with X-101 missiles. One of these missiles fell on Monday on the largest children's hospital in Ukraine, Okhmatdyt, where children with cancer were being treated.
The Russian wrote that "he was shocked by the attack on the children's hospital," so he decided to hand over documents related to the activities of his military unit to the Ukrainian side, as well as private photos of the command of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.
The information includes documents from the personal files of senior officers, personal data of Russian soldiers and their family members, and so on. The sealed documents are the most valuable.
Ukrainian intelligence released one of the photos. It shows the commanders of the 22nd Division. Most of them have already been identified. The photo includes, among others, the commander of the Tu-95 bomber, the assistant navigator of the aviation squadron, and the head of state secret services. The photo shows commanders, captains, generals, lieutenants, and colonels.
Attack on Kyiv. Russian lies about Okhmatdyt
On Monday, 8 July, Moscow carried out one of the most massive attacks on Ukraine in months in broad daylight. Forty-four missiles of various types fell on the country. One of the missiles hit the largest children's hospital in Ukraine, Okhmatdyt, where, at the time of the attack, over 600 children were being treated, including those with cancer.
In the shelling of the city's civilian infrastructure, 34 people were killed, including five children, and over 120 were injured - authorities reported.
Russians, as soon as they realised what they had done, tried to blame the Ukrainian air defence system. The Kremlin claims that it was a Ukrainian missile that hit the hospital, not a Russian one. This lie was immediately debunked.
Evidence collected on the spot - including missile debris - confirmed that an X-101 missile fell on the facility. Analyses by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) also show that Russia is responsible for the Monday attack on the paediatric hospital Okhmatdyt in Kyiv - informed the mission head, Danielle Bell, on Tuesday.
On the site, as the Security Service of Ukraine reported, fragments of the engine and other parts of the X-101 missile were found. Moreover, as analysed by the SBU, the type of missile used is indicated by the flight trajectory, angle of impact, type of damage typical for a missile with a charge weight of 400 kilograms, and video footage directly showing the missile hitting the hospital. The type of missile was also confirmed by radars that detected it.
