Mariupol (Ukraine): Ukrainian officials said Russian forces destroyed a theater in the city of Mariupol where hundreds of people had taken shelter. Some people came out on Thursday amid efforts to rescue those trapped in the basement of the building.
Earlier in the meantime, an official had said that some people managed to escape in the attack on the theatre. Meanwhile, Russia on Thursday destroyed several civilian buildings in another city. Dozens have been killed in Russian bombings in a northern city, officials said.
Mariupol City Council said the theater was hit by an airstrike on Wednesday. The City Council has released several photos showing a portion of the building being destroyed. Hundreds of people had taken shelter in the basement of the building. Inside the basement, hundreds of men, women, and children had taken refuge. An estimated 1,000 people were there. Despite attacks taking place elsewhere in the city, rescue teams are still working to clear the rubble. The entrance to the basement was blocked by debris.
Officials said that miraculously the asylum center is safe. Satellite imagery Maxar said Monday images showed the word “child” in large white letters in Russian on the front and back of the building. In the northern city of Chernihiv, at least 53 bodies were brought to the morgue in the past 24 hours, according to officials. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed German lawmakers via video conference and called for more help for his country. He said that thousands of people, including 108 children, have died in this war that started about a month ago. He also referred to Mariupol’s critical condition, saying “everything is on target for him.”
He said the Russian army also destroyed a theater where hundreds of people had taken shelter. The address by the President of Ukraine to the German Parliament started late due to a technical glitch. The attack caused a technical problem near where Zelensky was speaking. The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday denied that Mariupol was bombed or anywhere else.
A Russian rocket attack in Kyiv engulfed a building, killing one person and injuring at least three others, according to emergency service officials.
Firefighters rescued 30 people from the upper floors of the 16-story building and brought the blaze under control within an hour. The UN Security Council is meeting on Thursday at the request of six Western countries demanding an open session on Ukraine.
