Russia has laid siege to Mariupol over the past several days, encircling the city and launching wave after wave of attacks.
Updated on Mar 17, 2022 04:04 PM IST
The fate of hundreds of civilians trapped under rubble and concrete that was a theatre in Ukraine’s Mariupol – till it was destroyed in a Russian airstrike Wednesday – remains unknown, an officer in the city mayor’s office told Reuters. Ukraine officials earlier said thousands of people – reportedly some children as well – had fled to the theatre to seek shelter from Russian missile attacks on the beleaguered port city. Russia has denied targeting the building and blamed its destruction on a ‘nationalist battalion’ of the Ukraine military.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk administration, said rubble had buried the entrance to certain parts of the theatre and that an accurate count of the dead or injured is difficult at this time. A city official, however, told Reuters there is hope as the shelter had ‘withstood’ the strike.
Children inside
Satellite images – taken three days earlier – show the word ‘children’ in Russian on the pavement in front and behind the Mariupol theatre.
The fate of children trapped in the fighting – a situation flagged repeatedly by the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies – has increased after Ukraine said 79 have died and at least 100 have been injured so far.
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Ukraine has also said 280 educational institutions have been targeted. Children number nearly half the three million who are now refugees, the UN said.
‘Scum and traitors’, says Putin
Under increasing fire globally, Vladimir Putin delivered a frightening warning Thursday to anyone who questioned his illegal invasion of Ukraine.
He called for a ‘self-purification’ and ranted: “(Russians) will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and will spit them out like a gnat that accidentally flew into their mouths.”
READ: Russia batters Ukraine as ‘war criminal’ Putin warns of ‘scum, traitors’
Zelenskyy’s appeals
Pressed by Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – who reminded it of the horrors of 9/11 – the US said it will send $800 million in defence aid to Kyiv.
Source: Hindustan Times.
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