Evidence

Multiple independent outlets (Kyiv Post, Euronews, Yahoo News/Euronews wire, Eastern Herald, Kyiv Independent, RFE/RL) report that Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and military intelligence (HUR) have repeatedly named Russian military officers as responsible for ordering the July 8, 2024 Kh-101 missile strike on Kyiv's Okhmatdyt children's hospital. Over time Ukrainian authorities have named several different officers in connection with the strike: Lt. Gen. Sergey Kobylash (charged for giving the order), Maj. Denis Sheynov (technical preparation of the missile), Maj. Gen. Sergei Kuvaldin, and most recently Maj. Gen. Nikolai Varpakhovich, whom the SBU says issued the combat order and whose unit carried out the strike. Varpakhovich was charged in absentia and was reportedly shot in an assassination attempt in Russia's Saratov Oblast on September 3, an event covered by Kyiv Post, Euronews, Ground News and others, all referencing the underlying SBU/Ukrainian investigation. RFE/RL also reported in September 2024 that Prosecutor-General Andriy Kostin accused an (at the time unnamed) Russian Air Force commander of ordering the strike, alongside ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan's visit. I did not find a dedicated Reuters, AFP, Bellingcat, or EUvsDisinfo fact-check specifically adjudicating this claim, though the underlying attribution is widely and consistently reported as coming directly from Ukrainian investigative/security bodies (SBU, HUR, Prosecutor-General's office).