TARGETING ‘CHILDREN’
Bombs hit 100s in theater shelter
Officials in the besieged city of Mariupol said Wednesday that Russian bombs hit a theater — marked with the word “children” outside — that was being used to shelter civilians.
Many were buried in the rubble although the number of dead wasn’t immediately clear.
The attack was called a “horrendous war crime” by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a Twitter post.
“Occupiers from Russia purposefully destroyed the theater where hundreds of people were hiding,” the Mariupol City Council posted on Telegram.
The officials said they did not know the extent of the casualties, but said hundreds of civilians had been taking refuge in the building — which satellite images show bore large white letters in two spots directly outside the building with the word “children” written in Russian.
“A plane dropped a bomb on a building where hundreds of peaceful Mariupol residents were hiding,” the officials wrote. “It is still impossible to estimate the scale of this horrific and inhumane act.”
The council said the entrance to the building’s bomb shelter had been destroyed in the strike.
‘In the enemy’s sights’
“Women, children and the elderly remain in the enemy’s sights,” officials wrote. “These are completely unarmed, peaceful people.”
The Russian defense ministry denied bombing the theater or anywhere else in Mariupol on Wednesday.
Mariupol, a southern port city on the Sea of Azov, has been under siege and bombardment from Russian forces for more than two weeks, cut off from power and supplies of food and water.
Russian airstrikes hit a hospital maternity ward last week, and Ukrainian officials claimed Russian forces were holding patients hostage at another area hospital this week.