According to the Ukrainian government, a Russian airstrike has destroyed a maternity hospital in Mariupol in a direct hit leaving children buried underneath.
“An apparent Russian strike on Wednesday damaged and destroyed buildings at a hospital complex in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, including a maternity ward, according to several videos verified by The New York Times,” The New York Times reported, adding, “The city is part of a vital stretch of terrain that Russia is trying to capture in an apparent attempt to link Russian-backed separatist enclaves in the southeast with Crimea, the southern peninsula Russia seized in 2014.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted, “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.”
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
“Footage has emerged of badly wounded patients and nurses being evacuated from decimated buildings, while pregnant women were carried out on stretchers into a courtyard covered in rubble and littered with huge craters,” The Daily Mail reported, adding, “Video footage from the aftermath of the attack showed that large parts of the hospital had completely collapsed, while blood soaked mattresses were pictured lying in hallways.”
Ukraine Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba posted, “Russia continues holding hostage over 400.000 people in Mariupol, blocks humanitarian aid and evacuation. 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!”
Russia continues holding hostage over 400.000 people in Mariupol, blocks humanitarian aid and evacuation. 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!
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 9, 2022
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, “There are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless. The UK is exploring more support for Ukraine to defend against airstrikes and we will hold Putin to account for his terrible crimes. #PutinMustFall.”
There are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless.
The UK is exploring more support for Ukraine to defend against airstrikes and we will hold Putin to account for his terrible crimes. #PutinMustFail https://t.co/JBuvB78HVC
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 9, 2022
Russia has been accused of bombing hospitals before; ABC News reported in 2017, “A new report released Monday provides fresh evidence that Russian and Syrian government forces repeatedly targeted hospitals in rebel-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo and shows Russian efforts to conceal the attacks.”
Although Russian officials denied that their military had targeted hospitals, ABC News referred to a 70-page report from the Atlantic Council, noting, “But the new analysis, which includes satellite images, eye-witness reports, CCTV footage, video and photographs from the ground and even some from Russia’s own state media, undercuts those claims and weakens Moscow’s arguments that its air campaign was conducted with restraint.”
The Ukrainian Healthcare Center accused Russia of striking hospitals all over Ukraine, including in Donetsk, Luhansk, Mariupol, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv. Its co-founder, stated, “The humanitarian catastrophe is a part of Russia’s hybrid war. [It] intends to spread panic, create a flow of refugees at the borders and force the Ukrainian government to surrender.”