Russia has dropped a ‘highly explosive’ bomb on a theatre in southern Ukraine where hundreds of civilians were hiding from shelling, according to local officials.
Mariupol’s deputy mayor, Serhiy Orlov, said between 1,000 and 1,200 people were in the building at the time of the attack.
It is not clear if there have been any fatalities. Mariupol City Council said it was impossible to asses the damage or search for survivors due to ongoing Russian strikes.
A harrowing image shared by the local authority on Telegram shows the drama centre is almost completely destroyed, with huge plumes of smoke rising from the rubble.
‘This is exactly what the Mariupol Drama Theater looks like now,’ officials said.
‘The building, which in a peaceful life was a center of cultural spirit of the city, and in wartime became a refuge for hundreds of women and children.’
Ukraine’s foreign minister condemned the attack as ‘another horrendous war crime’ as he shared a powerful before and after image of the building.
‘Massive Russian attack on the Drama Theater where hundreds of innocent civilians were hiding,’ Dmytro Kuleba said.
‘The building is now fully ruined. Russians could not have not known this was a civilian shelter. Save Mariupol! Stop Russian war criminals!’
Mariupol City Council said it was currently ‘impossible to assess the scale of this terrible and inhuman act, because shelling of residential areas continues in the city’.
‘It is known that after the bombing the central part of the Drama Theater collapsed, and debris blocked the entrance to the bomb shelter located in the building,’ it said on a message on Telegram.
MP of the Batkivschyna faction, Serhiy Taruta, reported that fierce battles were going on in the besieged port city, and no one could get to the rubble.
The politician is quoted by the Interfax News Agency as saying: ‘We don’t know if there are survivors. And the worst thing is that we can’t get them out of the rubble.’
He said many Mariupol residents were hiding in the theater with small children.
‘We undertake an obligation. To the dead and survivors of the Russian bombing. The obligation to find every pilot who drops bombs on Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities. We will find everyone,’ he added.
The incident has also been reported on by Ukraine’s state communication channel, SSSCIP Ukraine.
It tweeted: ‘The Russians dropped a highly explosive bomb just in the heart of Mariupol – Drama Theatre. There were a lot of citizens in there hiding from the shelling, the number of the dead under the rubble remains unknown.’
Mariupol, a key strategic city on the Russia-Crimea land route, has been encircled by Russian troops for days and has been the site of constant bombardment.
In a separate incident, according to Ukraine’s armed forces, a convoy of civilians evacuating from the city was hit by rockets fired by Russian forces.
In a Facebook post, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said the people were fleeing to the city of Zaporizhzhya more than 200 km to the north-east of Mariupol, when they were targeted.
It is not clear if anyone was killed. The Zaporizhzhya local government said that at least five people were injured, including a child who is in a serious condition.
Last week, a maternity and children’s hospital in Mariupol was destroyed in Russian bombing, killing a pregnant woman and her child and a six year old girl.
A Mosque where around 80 people, including children, were hiding was also targeted in a Russian attack.
This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.
from News – Metro https://ift.tt/jCi4JeA
0 Comments