Ukraine Claims Russia bombed in a mosque sheltering over 80 people in Mariupol.
Ukraine: Russian forces bombarded a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children, in the coastal city of Mariupol, the Ukrainian authorities said Saturday, as the battle continued on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv.
There was no early information on how many people were killed or injured due to the mosque’s shelling.
Unrelenting barrages have prevented numerous attempts to bring in food and water and evacuate stranded citizens in Mariupol, resulting in some of the worst sufferings from Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey, a group of 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, sought refuge in Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent’s and his wife Roksolana’s mosque.
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Air raid sirens blared throughout the capital region, and artillery barrages sent civilians fleeing for cover.
Fighting erupted in several locations around Kyiv.
Russia’s apparent attempt to encircle the city and the shelling of neighboring population areas with artillery and air attacks reflect tactics used by Russian forces in earlier battles to eliminate armed resistance, most notably in Syria and Chechnya.
Artillery shelled Kyiv’s outskirts in the northwest. Then, after a strike on an ammunition stockpile in Vaslkyiv, two columns of smoke ascended to the city’s southwest, one black and one white.
Hundreds of minor explosions were created by detonating munitions during the strike on the storage.
According to the mayor’s office, the death toll in Mariupol had surpassed 1,500 after 12 days of attacks.
Three people were murdered in an attack on a maternity facility in the metropolis of 446,000 people this week, which sparked international anger and accusations of war crimes.
Crews were forced to cease digging trenches for mass graves due to the continued bombardment, so the “dead aren’t even being buried,” according to the mayor.
The moment a tank appeared to fire directly on an apartment building, covering one side in a billowing orange blaze, was captured by an Associated Press photographer.
According to the World Health Organization, Russian soldiers have attacked at least two dozen hospitals and medical facilities since invading Ukraine on February 24.
According to Ukrainian officials, heavy artillery struck a cancer hospital and many residential structures in Mykolaiv, a city 489 kilometers (304 miles) west of Mariupol.
Several hundred patients were in the hospital during the incident, according to the hospital’s senior doctor, Maksim Beznosenko. However, no one was killed.
Against determined Ukrainian troops, the invading Russian soldiers have battled significantly more than planned.
Despite a continued influx of weaponry and other help from the West for Ukraine’s westward-looking, democratically elected government, Russia’s stronger military threatens to grind down the defending forces.
2.5 million people have already fled the country due to the fighting. In addition, thousands of soldiers on both sides and many Ukrainian citizens are estimated to have died.
On the ground, Kremlin forces appeared to be regrouping and regaining momentum after facing stiff resistance and suffering significant losses during the previous two weeks.
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