A maternity and children's hospital in the city of Mariupol has been hit by a Russian airstrike and wounded at least 17 people, Ukraine official says.
As per reports, the ground shook more than a mile away when a series of blasts slammed into the Mariupol complex, blowing out windows and ripping away much of the front of one building. Police and soldiers rushed to the scene to evacuate victims, carrying out a heavily pregnant and bleeding woman on a stretcher.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said people were trapped under the wreckage, and called the attack a war crime
“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,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky in a tweet.
A regional official told Ukrainian media that at least 17 people were injured, including staff and patients.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional administration which includes the port city of Mariupol, said no deaths had been confirmed, and there were no confirmed injuries amongst children. He said the attack happened during an agreed ceasefire with the Russian side, according to Interfax Ukraine.
The Mariupol city council said the strike had caused "colossal damage", and published footage showing burned-out buildings, destroyed cars, and a huge crater outside the hospital.
"We don't understand how it's possible in modern life to bomb a children's hospital. People cannot believe that it's true," Mariupol Deputy Mayor Serhiy Orlov said.
President Zelensky, speaking Russian rather than Ukrainian for part of his latest video address, said the attack was a war crime.
"What kind of a country is Russia, that it is afraid of hospitals and maternity wards and destroys them?" he asked.
Mariupol has been surrounded by Russian forces for several days, and repeated attempts at a ceasefire to allow civilians to leave have broken down.
Deputy Mayor Orlov said at least 1,170 civilians had been killed in the city since Russia began its bombardment, and that 47 people there were buried in a mass grave on Wednesday, although those figures have not been independently verified.
As per reports, the ground shook more than a mile away when a series of blasts slammed into the Mariupol complex, blowing out windows and ripping away much of the front of one building. Police and soldiers rushed to the scene to evacuate victims, carrying out a heavily pregnant and bleeding woman on a stretcher.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said people were trapped under the wreckage, and called the attack a war crime
“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,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky in a tweet.
A regional official told Ukrainian media that at least 17 people were injured, including staff and patients.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional administration which includes the port city of Mariupol, said no deaths had been confirmed, and there were no confirmed injuries amongst children. He said the attack happened during an agreed ceasefire with the Russian side, according to Interfax Ukraine.
The Mariupol city council said the strike had caused "colossal damage", and published footage showing burned-out buildings, destroyed cars, and a huge crater outside the hospital.
"We don't understand how it's possible in modern life to bomb a children's hospital. People cannot believe that it's true," Mariupol Deputy Mayor Serhiy Orlov said.
President Zelensky, speaking Russian rather than Ukrainian for part of his latest video address, said the attack was a war crime.
"What kind of a country is Russia, that it is afraid of hospitals and maternity wards and destroys them?" he asked.
Mariupol has been surrounded by Russian forces for several days, and repeated attempts at a ceasefire to allow civilians to leave have broken down.
Deputy Mayor Orlov said at least 1,170 civilians had been killed in the city since Russia began its bombardment, and that 47 people there were buried in a mass grave on Wednesday, although those figures have not been independently verified.
