KYIV, March 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — International leaders and Ukraine accused Russia of a “barbaric” attack on a children’s hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol, as civilians continued to bear the brunt of the conflict two
weeks into Moscow’s invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 35,000 civilians had managed to flee cities under Russian attack on Wednesday, but there was little relief in Mariupol where the mayor said relentless bombardment had killed over 1,200
civilians in the nine-day siege.
Zelensky shared video footage showing massive destruction at the recently refurbished hospital in the southern port city, condemning the attack as a “war crime.”
A local official said the attack wounded at least 17 staff, though no deaths were immediately reported. Zelensky said the “direct strike by Russian troops” had left children under the wreckage. Russia’s foreign ministry did not deny the attack but accused Ukrainian “nationalist battalions” of using the hospital to set up firing positions after moving out staff and patients.
Video shared from the site by rescue workers showed a scene of complete devastation, with the wounded being evacuated, some on stretchers, past charred and burning carcasses of cars and a massive crater by the building.
Inside, debris, shattered glass and splintered wood littered corridors, administrative offices and bedrooms, with mattresses thrown from their frames.
The White House slammed the “barbaric” use of force against civilians, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the attack “depraved”.
A UN spokesman said no health facility “should ever be a target”.
The attack came as women were in labour inside, the regional military administration in Donetsk said.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov landed in Turkey for the face-to-face talks set for Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba — who warned in a Facebook video his expectations were “limited”.
So far, the parties have been engaged in lower-level talks in Belarus, largely over humanitarian issues and involving Ukrainian officials but no Russian ministers.
Those discussions have produced several attempts to bring civilians out of cities under attack, many of which have failed after so-called humanitarian corridors came under attack.
But on Wednesday, at least 35,000 civilians were able to leave the cities of Sumy, Enerhodar and areas around Kyiv, Zelensky said.
He said he hoped the evacuations would continue on Thursday with three more routes set to open out of Mariupol, Volnovakha in the southeast and Izium in eastern Ukraine.
Previous attempts to allow civilians to leave Mariupol in particular have collapsed, with aid groups warning of a catastrophic situation in the city where basic services have halted.
And Moscow’s forces have continued making rapid advances towards the capital, approaching Brovary, a large eastern suburb. Fighting has intensified in the area, with Ukrainian forces trying to repel the Russian tanks.
Overnight, the Ukrainian General Staff said Russian forces were continuing their “offensive operation” to encircle Kyiv, while pressing attacks on a string of other cities across the country.
Russia’s war has sent around 2.2 million refugees across Ukraine’s borders in what the United Nations has called Europe’s fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II.
The conflict has raised fears of a nuclear accident in a country with major nuclear plants and the site of the Chernobyl disaster.
The UN’s atomic watchdog said Wednesday it saw “no critical impact on safety” at Chernobyl, location of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, despite a loss of power there.
But it warned it was not receiving updates from either Chernobyl or Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, which is also now under Russian control.
The International Monetary Fund has also approved a $1.4-billion emergency package for Kyiv to provide “critical financial support.”
In tandem with military assistance to Kiev, Western allies have sought to squeeze Moscow with unprecedented sanctions — including a US ban announced Tuesday on the oil imports that help bankroll the conflict.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss Wednesday urged the entire G7 to ban Russian oil imports, saying the world’s top economies should “go further and faster” in punishing Moscow for invading Ukraine. — NNN-AGENCIES
