Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky blasted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being photographed hugging Russian President Vladimir Putin while on a state visit on Monday.
Zelensky said it was a “huge disappointment” and a “devastating blow to peace efforts” to see Modi hug Putin on the same day a Russian missile attack hit a children’s hospital in Ukraine.
In a tweet, the Ukrainian leader said that “a Russian missile struck the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine, targeting young cancer patients. Many were buried under the rubble.”
He added that “it is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day.”
Modi arrived in Moscow shortly after news broke that Russia had targeted Ukraine with a flurry of missile strikes Monday, killing at least 38 people in a barrage that hit an apartment complex and a children’s hospital.
Zelensky said in on X that the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, which he said has saved thousands of children, was struck in the attack.
“Now that the hospital has been damaged by a Russian strike, there are people under the rubble, and the exact number of casualties is still unknown,” Zelensky wrote. “Russia cannot claim ignorance of where its missiles are flying and must be held fully accountable for all its crimes.”
Modi is on a two-day state visit to Russia, which coincides with the NATO summit in Washington D.C. This visit marks the newly elected Indian leader’s first trip to Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Modi often prefers hugs to handshakes when greeting fellow world leaders, including President Biden.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, when asked about the Modi-Putin meeting, told reporters at a press briefing, “We have made quite clear directly with India our concerns about their relationship with Russia.”
Putin welcomed Modi calling him his “dear friend” and said he was “very happy” to see him, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency.