The Okhmatdyt missile strike: conclusions by the "good Russians"

Illustration by the IMI

Even after a Russian missile hit the children's hospital "Okhmatdyt", Russia's independent media, as well as vaguely anti-government and liberal commentators, fail to realize their own role and responsibility for this. Politicians and opinion leaders continue to avoid any hints at the part they played in today's situation in Russia and the destructive influence of their state on the world, especially on Ukraine. They almost exclusively blame Vladimir Putin, occasionally mentioning the army or the impersonal "regime". None of them dared to say that Putin had crossed all boundaries long ago and, especially after the attack on the children's hospital, deserves to be declared a war criminal. Nor do they mention that the global community needs to focus on bringing the end of his dictatorship closer, in particular by way of Ukraine's military victory.

Instead, these figures act as guides and even defenders of Russia, who do not invterfere due to of their "higher humanist nature". But they seem to be just waiting it out until they can lead the government. Perhaps that is why some of them justify Russia's aggression. However, one observes no desire to make a difference or take responsibility in them yet.

For "independent" Russian media, the statements by Russia's Ministry of Defense are a reliable source of information that they quote and cite. They fail to notice the difference between propaganda and real facts, and cannot move away from the narrative that "things are not so simple".

IMI experts checked how the "independent" Russian outlets responded to the Russia's June 8 shelling strikes on Ukraine.

TV Dozhd

On the day the Russian missile hit the children's hospital Okhmatdyt, TV Dozhd reported:

"Russian troops launched a major attack on Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro and other Ukrainian cities. The attack killed 31 people, including 20 residents of Kyiv, reports Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs. Over 100 more residents were injured," the news says. The website cites the Security Service of Ukraine to report that the attackers used a Kh-101 missile and attaches a link to a video where one can supposedly see the missile.

At the same time, in their news piece, "Dozhd" extensively covers the statement by the Ministry of Defense of Russia, which denied their involvement in the missile attack on the children's hospital.

"Claims by representatives of the Kyiv regime that Russia deliberately targeted civilian objects with missile fire are completely untrue. Numerous released photos and video footage from Kyiv unequivocally confirm that the destruction was caused by the fall of a Ukrainian air defense missile launched from an anti-aircraft missile complex within the city," "Dozhd" quotes the Russian Ministry of Defense as saying.

Apparently, the editors believe that including contradictory information in their news counts as upholding balance. Maybe it would work in some other case. But not when there are videos and a crowd of witnesses confirming that only one of the perspectives is true, and the other is a figment of the imaginations of actors who have been denying being at war with Ukraine for 10 years.

Screenshot from the TV Dozhd website by the IMI

In this case, instead of balanced news, Dozhd spread the Kremlin's propaganda.

"Dozhd" devoted one more news story to the Russian army's shelling of Ukraine on that day, with no mention of "Okhmatdyt" this time.

The follwing day, the website posted a video of a news program which touches on the Russian missile strikes. In particular, it features footage of the aftermath of the Okhmatdyt strike and an excerpt from the propagandist Volodymyr Solovyov's show where he argues extensively that Okhmatdyt was hit by a Ukrainian air defense missile. In the end, this section of the program lets all versions of the Ukraine missile strikes be and leaves it to the audience to make their own conclusions.

Another video posted on the "Dozhd" website on that day reports that "Alla Pugacheva commented on the children's hospital attack today". This is how one of the harshest condemnations of the Russian strike on a children's hospital by Russians who claim to oppose the policies of the dictator Putin entered the media space. "God is patient, but everything has a limit," Pugacheva wrote on Instagram under a photo of a child injured in the attack on "Okhmatdyt". One can only guess whom she threatens with divine punishment. There are no specifics, as is often the case with "good Russians".

In this way, "Dozhd" informed their audience about a missile hitting a children's hospital in Kyiv, all while presenting multiple alternative theories on how it happened and who is to blame. The editors did not consider it necessary to deny the outright nonsense and propaganda from the Kremlin, let alone mention the term "war crime".

Meduza

On July 8, "Meduza" reported on a "Russian missile attack on Ukraine." The news story, which discusses the strikes on peaceful Ukrainian territories recorded by that time and includes photos of the destruction and victims, features information on the Okhmatdyt strike as well.

At the same time, "Meduza" shares claims the Russian war department without refuting them: "The children's hospital was not hit by a Russian missile, but by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile." As early as the second paragraph, they mention that "Russian troops only strike 'critical infrastructure objects and military targets which in one way or another affect military capabilities.'"

Later that day, "Meduza" published a selection of photos from "Okhmatdyt" following the missile strike. The introduction to the material mentions the statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense about the "fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile."

Another article is devoted to the history of the "Okhmatdyt" hospital. Among other things, they cite the number of casualties of the Russian strike: "The Russian attack on July 8 killed two adults in the hospital (not a final assessment, the search through the rubble is ongoing)."

Screenshot from the Meduza website by the IMI

The next day, "Meduza" mentioned Alla Pugacheva's appeals to God. Ultimately, the media outlet had some coverage of the Russian missile strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv, while avoiding direct mentions of those responsible for this crime and spreading fakes from Russia's war department, albeit to a limited extent.

"Zhivoy Gvozd"

The media outlet "Zhivoy Gvozd" only got around to discussing the "strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv" on its YouTube channel on the next day in the morning. The channel provided concrete evidence against the Kremlin's claims about "a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile". The participants of the livestream also shared their assumptions as to why the Kremlin would do this and the possible outcomes.

The Bell

On the day of the Okhmatdyt strike, The Bell reported on "explosions near the Zhulyany airport, which is covered by the air defense systems Patriot, and damage to the warehouse of the military plant 'Artem'."

The website reports on the missile hitting the children's hospital in an article titled "Kyiv accuses Russia of attacking Ukraine's largest children's hospital and other civilian objects." The accusation is provided here as a quote from President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement. The website also quotes Russia's Ministry of Defense, which claimed "retaliation for attempts to damage Russia's energy and economy facilities" and talked about "Ukrainian air defense missiles."

Therefore, even though the site dares to quote Zelensky, it skews towards spreading the Kremlin's propaganda narratives: both in terms of proportion and the presentation of information.

Screenshot from the The Bell by the IMI

As you can see, ultimately the audience the "independent" or liberal Russian media was able to learn about a rocket strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv, which killed multiple people and jeopardized the lives of all patients of Ukraine's largest pediatric institution. But there is no certainty that the audience understood clearly where the missile came from and who was responsible for it. After all, the overall picture painted by the media discussed above mostly fits into the propaganda cliché "things are not so simple".

Politicians and opinion leaders

Russia's most famous Russian opinion leaders wearing the veneer of anti-Putinism are either unable or unwilling to admit their own share of responsibility for Russia's actions. In this context, one cannot omit Yulia Latynina, who calls herself an independent journalist. She quickly offered a way to justify the missile strike: retaliation for Zelensky's refusal of the peace deal proposed by Orban and Trump.

"Putin was firing during the day. Regardless of whether the hospital was hit deliberately or not ... day strikes can not be written off as an accident," she writes on X.

Screenshot from Yulia Latynina on X by the IMI

Is Latynina claiming that it was Putin pressing the button and no Russian was involved in this, especially since it all could have been unintentional?

Yulia Navalnaya, who inherited the title of the main opposition leader, seems to continue the argument that the Russian society is not involved in the murders of Ukrainians.

"A missile strike on a children's hospital is a terrible crime one can not even imagine. But all this is happening right now before our eyes. Putin and his regime are simply cannibals," Navalnaya writes on X.

Screenshot from Yulia Navalnaya on X by the IMI

It seems that in her reality there is Putin and some bad Russians constituting "the regime", but the good Russians have no part in this, the only watch, not bothering anyone. It also begs question if it is a coincidence that Navalnaya, as a politician, does not use the clear term "war criminal", but simply calls the dictator a cannibal?

Blogger and public figure Maxim Katz devoted eight minutes of his filmed-for-YouTube reflections to the attack on the children's hospital in Kyiv. In the video, does not explain in any particular detail what the missile was or where it hit or what the impact of the strike was.

Screenshot from Maxim Katz on YouTube by the IMI

Instead, Katz persistently promotes the old idea that "the bloody war is being waged by Putin." At the same time, he worries that there will be no ceasefire now, the West will give Ukraine more weapons and Russians will be dying from "retaliation strikes".

Blogger Yuriy Dud did not talk about the shelling strike on the children's hospital on YouTube. He famously specializes in a different kind of content. Still, Dud made an effort to show he cares. "Cursed be those who started this war, who kill children for the sake of their ambitions, sowing nothing but grief throughout the land," he wrote on Telegram. One can only wonder at the fact that Dud still has no idea who they are, these people who started the war on Ukraine. Or he simply does not realize that omitting the name of the "Dark Lord" will not make things better.

Alexey Venediktov, the former director of the Russian radio station "Echo", which was shut down by the Kremlin, responded to the Russian missile strike on "Okhmatdyt" by making a post on X about the artist Maksym Galkin's reaction. "Doctors continue to perform open-heart surgery on a child during a Russian missile attack," Venediktov quoted Galkin. In this way, he secured himself a three-fold cover: he responded to the situation, did not directly accuse anyone, if anyone suddenly asks – he was just quoting someone else. Simultaneously, Venediktov was counting the members of the French Parliament on Facebook.

Some Russians declared "foreign agents" in their homeland demonstrate, despite the title, that they are above the situation and observe it from up high, professing practical humanism. For instance, the TV Dozhd editor-in-chief Mikhail Zygar posted a fundraising call on X.

"Now I just want to share a link to a fundraiser for Ukrainian children with cancer. They were in the hospital hit by a Russian missile today. Oh, God," he wrote without going into details.

The writer Grigoriy Chkhartishvili (pen name Boris Akunin) addressed his followers on Telegram and Facebook. "Expressing anger and sympathy is great, but let's give some help with our actions," he writes.

Screenshot from Akunin Chkhartishvili on Facebook by the IMI

Political scientist and columnist Ekaterina Schulmann made do without any calls, limiting herself to posting links to Okhmatdyt fundraisers on Facebook and Telegram.

Finally, we should mention Ksenia Sobchak, a former adversary of Putin. For instance, at the time of the missile strike on the Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv she wrote on her Telegram channel "Bloody Lady" that "State Duma deputy Gurulev said that in urban warfare it is better to simply raze down the neighborhoods where Ukrainian soldiers have a foothold."

In conclusion, even if we forget about Sobchak, nothing in the reviewed content suggests that the Russian intellectuals who say that they are against the war and against Putin are ready to reckon with the reality, where Russia is clearly trying to destroy Ukraine and it is all citizens who are responsible for the state, not just the dictator.