Talk about thumbing your nose to the most powerful military alliance ever assembled. As the heads of state of the 32-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization met in Washington, D.C., this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces targeted a children’s hospital in Ukraine, killing 43 people and wounding countless others.

The reaction from the West and NATO in particular? Another fervent pronouncement that the alliance will defend every inch of members’ territory and support Ukraine in its fight to the end.