Photo: DANIEL LEAL / AFP / Getty Images
At least 17 People were injured after a Russian airstrike destroyed a maternity hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol, the Ukrainian government claims.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the children were buried under the rubble after the attack on Wednesday afternoon and called the attack an “atrocity”.
Mariupol. Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity. pic.twitter.com/FoaNdbKH5k— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 9, 2022
The airstrike was carried out during an agreed ceasefire period that was intended to allow the evacuation of civilians from the besieged southern city, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
He said in a Facebook post: “So far there are 47 injured in the hospital staff”.
The horror images showed the charred remains of the hospital with injured staff and patients exiting the building to a devastating scene of burning cars and smoldering debris.
Mariupol. Russian artillery ruined maternity hospital and children hospital. A lot of killed and wounded women. No information about children and newborn yet. Hey, @UN how are you doing? Please retweet pic.twitter.com/QJSfUMMngW— Dmytro Gurin, Ukrainian MP (@DmytroGurinMP) March 9, 2022
The video showed holes where windows should have been in what appeared to be a badly damaged three-story hospital building.
Previous attempts to allow civilians to evacuate safely failed, with harrowing images showing people running for shelter.
The city council accused brutal Russian forces of “dropping multiple bombs” on the hospital with footage showing a huge crater outside one of the buildings.
The Mariupol city council said: “The Russian occupation forces have dropped several bombs on the children’s hospital. The destruction is colossal.”
Zelensky shared images of the harrowing scene inside the building and said: “Direct attack by Russian troops on the maternity hospital. People, children are under the rubble. Atrocity!
“How much longer will the world be complicit in ignoring the terror ? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have the power, but you seem to be losing humanity.”
The President of Ukraine has repeatedly urged the United States and other NATO nations to impose a no-fly zone to protect its citizens from bombing, rocket attacks and advancing Russian troops.
But NATO members warned that a no-fly zone could lead to direct clashes between Russian and NATO forces.
Boris Johnson criticized the “depraved” airstrike in Mariupol that targeted mothers and babies” vulnerable and defenseless”.
The prime minister said: “There are few things more depraved than attacking the vulnerable and defenseless.
“The UK is exploring more support for Ukraine to defend itself from airstrikes and we will hold Putin accountable for his terriblecrimes”.
Ukrainian deputy Dmytro Gurin stated that “many” women had been killed or wounded in the Russian bombardment.
The deputy director of Zelensky’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said that the authorities are still trying to establish the number of victims.
The Days of shelling in Mariupol have isolated residents from the outside world and forced them to search for food and water.
Deputy Mayor of Mariupol said that 1,170 civilians have been killed in the city since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Serhiy Orlov was quoted as saying: “At least 1,170 people have been killed and 47 were buried in a mass grave today.
“People do not have water, heating, electricity, gas, the residents are melting snow to drink.”
Yesterday, an eight-year-old girl died of dehydration after Russian attacks left her without access to water, electricity or heating.
A Red Cross aid mission was reportedly hit by a Russian bomb in the city, amid reports that victims of the attacks are being buried in mass graves.
Despite Russian and Ukrainian officials agreeing to establish “humanitarian corridors” to allow civilians to leave some cities, Russia has been accused to bomb the evacuation routes.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that Russian forces “launched an attack right in the humanitarian corridor” and “did not allow children, the women and the elderly leave the city”.
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