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EVIL Vladimir Putin reportedly spent over $200 million on Monday's horrific Kyiv attack on a children's hospital that left at least 41 dead.
The tyrant unleashed a tirade of hypersonic missiles and six-ton warship killers in a precise assault targeting sick children with military experts now calling on Nato leaders to "act decisively to stop Russia".
Disturbing footage shows rockets hurling through the sky during the devastating wave of strikes with over 125 left injured.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia hit five cities on Monday in a "genocidal" attack.
He demanded Moscow answer "for all its crimes" against people, children and humanity.
His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, accused Russia of "deliberately targeting" children.
Kids with cancer were forced to pause chemotherapy treatment as medics evacuated the hospital’s oncology ward.
Ukraine’s health minister said at least three sick children mid-way though open-heart surgeries when the missiles struck.
One doctor even said he leapt on to his patient to protect them from flying glass and debris.
In total, 38 varying missiles were launched, according to data from the Armed Forces Air Force in Ukraine.
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The cost of the missiles is said to have cost between $160-$200 million, say Forbes.
They included a Kh-47M2 "Kinzhal" aeroballistic missile, four Iskander-M ballistic missiles, one 3M22 "Zirkon" cruise missile and three Kh-59/Kh-69 guided air missiles.
As well as a sickening outburst of 13 Kh-101 cruise missiles and 14 Kalibr cruise missiles.
A pair of giant 40ft Kh-22 cruise missiles were also launched - leaving buildings crumbling.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed 30 of 38 missiles launched.
Russia used "new and noteworthy tactics" to cause as much damage as they could, say the Institute for the Study of War.
Putin's military launched their cruise missiles at low altitudes to prevent being detected by air defence systems quickly enough to thwart an attack.
Former Ukrainian air forces spokesperson Colonel Yuriy Ihnat said many of the rockets were seen soaring at just 160ft above the ground.
NATO'S RESPONSE
The shocking attack on Ukraine came as Nato leaders were set to jet off to Washington for the organisation's latest meeting.
Russia's invasion in Ukraine was all but certain to be top of the already packed agenda but after the systematic barrage in Kyiv it is expected to take up a huge amount of time.
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told The Sun the summit is an opportunity for the West to hit back at Russia following Putin's hideous attack.
He said: "Nato needs to act decisively to stop Russian attacks on hospitals and civilians. Nato needs to flex its military muscle in Washington to stop Russia.
“It should be no great surprise that Russia bombed a children’s hospital and maternity clinic in Kyiv yesterday; it’s what they do.”
He also rubbished the repeated nuclear threats made by Putin.
“Putin has tested European leaders with his constant threat of nuclear attacks and has found their resolve very weak, and hence exploited this nervousness to confront Russia,” he added.
“But there have been no nuclear strikes and there will not be. Putin will not go nuclear and will avoid conflict with NATO at all costs.
“The US, UK and France knocked out Iranian drones and missiles fired at Israeli cities, so why not Russian ones fired at Ukrainian hospitals and schools?”
Hamish has called on the new UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to be strong and firm against his Russian foe at the meeting.
The PM will be in Washington for the crunch summit this evening just 24 hours after he slammed the attack as "the most depraved of actions".
Sir Keir has an opportunity to put a stop to these “Russian war crimes”, says Hamish.
Leaders from around the world are set to shore up their military alliance in wake of the barbaric strikes as well as the other ongoing global conflicts.
The raging Middle East wra is also likely to be raised with continued calls for an immediate ceasefire coming from many of the leaders.
Richard Barrons, former British army general, also told The Sun: “The timing was obviously linked to the NATO summit.”
He said it was Putin’s attempt at highlighting the huge amounts of money Nato has been sending to Ukraine in the two and a half years since the brutal war.
It was also Putin’s bloody attempt to send a “strategic message” which says “this war is nowhere near over, going to be hard and expensive”.
Ultimately, the horrific attack shows Putin’s war in Ukraine “could yet escalate to a wider conflict if not handled firmly enough to keep Russia under effective deterrence”.
Barrons tells us: “That means modernising and improving European armed forces faster and more expensively than the public and leaders want.
“But the alternative is potentially way worse.”
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It comes as one of the main topics set for the Nato summit is around firming up a £30 billion aid package for the next year, says Richard.
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg had asked for closer to £80 billion to be spread over two years but the US presidential elections and opposition in Europe reportedly lowered the sum.
The heinous attack on Ukraine's capital
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At LEAST 41 people have been killed in the attacks with 125 left with injuries after a barrage of missiles struck Kyiv and the surrounding cities.
Horrific pictures showed children wounded in the attack, with one wheeled into an ambulance on a stretcher as he sobbed.
Another chilling photograph shows a toddler covered in blood at a hospital.
A group of young cancer patients gathered with their parents and doctors, attached to drips as they watched on in horror.
Mother Marina Ploskonos said her 4-year-old son was recovering from spinal surgery when the missiles struck.
Bursting into tears, she said: “My child is terrified. This shouldn't be happening, it's a children's hospital.”
One haunting clip shows a residential building in the Shevchenkovsky district of Kyiv hit in the waves of Russian strikes - where people, including children, are buried beneath the rubble.
A man says: “Friends, this is a residential building. It's on fire, people are screaming.
“This is what Russian ******** are doing, that's how they are fighting.
"That's how they are fighting Ukrainian people. It's the first time I see something like this.
“Look, people are screaming, there are attempts to save them. But, look, the whole staircase collapsed here.”
The UN aid chief for Ukraine condemned the strikes as “unconscionable”.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed 30 out of 38 missiles launched by Russia.
Cities including Dnipro, Krivoy, Slovyansk and Kramatorsk were all hit along with the capital.
The Kremlin acted clueless when they were condemned globally for the attacks.
They claim it was Ukrainian anti-missile fire, not Russian missiles, that struck the Kyiv children's hospital.
Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn't give any evidence for the rebuttal.
He said: "I insist, we do not conduct strikes on civilian targets."