Ukrainian officials said Russia “deliberately bombed” a maternity and children’s hospital on Wednesday in the city of Mariupol where 400,000 Ukrainian citizens are reportedly being held hostage by Russia following the attack.
“The occupiers deliberately bombed a children’s hospital in Mariupol,” Ukraine’s Armed Forces tweeted. “The destruction is enormous.”
Video of the aftermath of the attack shows a building with blown out windows and black smoke rising from the debris. Part of the roof appears to be torn off, as well, and what’s left of the building is surrounded by mangled vehicles. Trees that were apparently broken in half by the attack are also scattered throughout the scene.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted on Wednesday that the Russian attack left children and others trapped under the wreckage.
“Mariupol. Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage,” Zelenskyy tweeted. “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.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, said Russia is holding more than 400,000 Ukrainians hostage in the city.
“Russia continues holding hostage over 400.000 people in Mariupol, blocks humanitarian aid and evacuation,” he tweeted. “Indiscriminate shelling continues. Almost 3.000 newborn babies lack medicine and food. I urge the world to act! Force Russia to stop its barbaric war on civilians and babies!”
First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Emine Dzheppar, tweeted additional graphic images of the wreckage after the attack.
“#Mariupol today. It is besieged by #Russian invaders who keep shelling and killing civilian population of the city. They don’t care whether it’s elderly persons, women or children. We ask to close the sky over Ukraine or provide us with weapon we need and we will do it ourselves,” she wrote.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW
Dzheppar tweeted additional video showing a car engulfed in flames and rescuers carrying an injured Ukrainian on a stretcher.
An attempt to evacuate the city and delivery food, water, medicine and other essentials was thwarted on Tuesday when Russian invaders attacked the convoy before it was able to reach the desperate civilians, Ukrainian officials said, according to Fox News.
Russian forces reportedly denied firing on the humanitarian convoys and alleged that Ukraine is actually preventing evacuation efforts.
A report from the Ukrainian Health Center claimed that the Russian military has attacked dozens of healthcare facilities in Ukraine.
“As of March 9, our team has documented 42 cases of attacks on healthcare infrastructure and medical professionals in Ukraine. Russia is deliberately provoking a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. The bombing of private homes, schools, and hospitals have no military justification,” the report stated.
