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A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine on July 8 killed at least 31 people and injured 154, officials said, with one striking a large children鈥檚 hospital in the capital of Kyiv, where emergency crews searched the rubble for victims.

The daytime barrage targeted five Ukrainian cities with more than 40 missiles of different types hitting apartment buildings and public infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. Ukraine鈥檚 air force said it intercepted 30 missiles.

Strikes in Kryvyi Rih, Mr. Zelenskyy鈥檚 birthplace in central Ukraine, killed 10 people and injured 47 in what the head of city administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said was a massive missile attack. Seven people were killed in Kyiv, authorities said.

鈥淚t is very important that the world should not be silent about it now and that everyone should see what Russia is and what it is doing,鈥� Mr. Zelenskyy said on social media.

Western leaders who have backed Ukraine will hold a three-day NATO summit in Washington beginning July 9 to look at how they can reassure Kyiv of the alliance鈥檚 unwavering support and offer Ukrainians hope that their country can come through Europe鈥檚 biggest conflict since World War II.

Mr. Zelenskyy said during a visit to Poland he hopes the summit will provide more air defense systems for Ukraine.

At the Okhmatdyt children鈥檚 hospital in Kyiv, rescuers searched for victims under the rubble of a partially collapsed, two-story wing of the facility. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 16 people, seven of them children, were injured.

On the hospital鈥檚 main 10-story building, windows, and doors were blown out and walls were blackened. The intensive care unit, operating theaters, and oncology departments all were damaged, officials said.

Rescuers searched for children and medical workers in the rubble. Volunteers formed a line, passing bricks and other debris to each other. Smoke still rose from the building, and volunteers and emergency crews worked in protective masks.

The attack forced the evacuation of the hospital and its temporary closure. Some mothers carried their children away on their backs, while others waited in the courtyard with their children as calls to doctors鈥� phones rang unanswered.

A few hours after the initial strike, another air raid siren sent many of them hurrying to the hospital鈥檚 shelter. Led by a flashlight through the shelter鈥檚 dark corridors, mothers carried their bandaged children in their arms and medical workers carried them on gurneys. Volunteers handed out candy to try to calm the children.

Marina Ploskonos said her 4-year-old son had been recovering from medical treatment received on July 5.

鈥淢y child is terrified,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his shouldn鈥檛 be happening, it鈥檚 a children鈥檚 hospital,鈥� she said, bursting into tears.

Ukraine鈥檚 Security Service said it found wreckage from a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile at the site and had opened proceedings on war crime charges. The Kh-101 is an air-launched missile that flies low to avoid detection by radar. Ukraine said it shot down 11 of 13 Kh-101 missiles launched on July 8.

Czech President Petr Pavel said the hospital attack was 鈥渋nexcusable鈥� and that he expected to see at the NATO summit a consensus that Russia was 鈥渢he biggest threat for which we must be thoroughly prepared.鈥�

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said striking children was 鈥渦nconscionable.鈥�

鈥淯nder international humanitarian law, hospitals have special protection,鈥� she said in a statement.

Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted Ukrainian defense plants and military air bases and were successful. It denied aiming at any civilian facilities and claimed without evidence that pictures from Kyiv indicated the damage was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile.

Since early in the war which is well into its third year, Russian officials have regularly claimed that Moscow鈥檚 forces never attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, despite what officials in Kyiv say as well as Associated Press reporting.

Col. Yurii Ignat of the Ukrainian air force said Russia has been improving the effectiveness of its airstrikes, equipping its missiles with enhancements including so-called heat traps that deflect air defense systems.

In the July 8 attack, the cruise missiles flew at low altitudes 鈥� up to 50 meters (160 feet) off the ground 鈥� making them harder to hit, he said in comments sent to AP.

Elsewhere in Kyiv, where seven of the city鈥檚 10 districts saw the heaviest Russian bombardment of the capital in almost four months, the strikes killed seven people and injured 25, officials said.

About three hours after the first strikes, more missiles hit Kyiv and partially destroyed a private medical center. Four people were killed there, Ukraine鈥檚 Emergency Service said.

In the capital鈥檚 Shevchenkivskyi district, a three-story section of a residential building was destroyed. Emergency crews searched for casualties, and AP reporters saw them remove three bodies.

The powerful blast wave scorched nearby buildings, shattered windows, and flung a dog into a neighboring yard, resident Halina Sichievka said.

鈥淣ow we don鈥檛 have anything in our apartment, no windows, no doors, nothing. Nothing at all,鈥� Ms. Sichievka聽said.

The Kinzhal hypersonic missiles used in the attack are among the most advanced Russian weapons, Ukraine鈥檚 air force said, flying at 10 times the speed of sound and making it hard to intercept.

City buildings shook from the blasts. Three electricity substations were damaged or destroyed in two districts of Kyiv, energy company DTEK said.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.