Ukraine: Russia would have bombed a school in which 400 people were sheltered, according to the Ukrainian authorities
Steph Deschamps / March 20, 2022
The Russian army bombed an art school serving as a refuge for several hundred people in Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, local authorities accused Sunday, adding that civilians were trapped under the rubble.
Yesterday (Saturday), Russian occupiers dropped bombs on the G12 art school on the left bank of Marioupol, where 400 Marioupol residents -- women, children and the elderly -- had taken refuge, said the municipality of this port city besieged by Moscow forces. We know that the building was destroyed and that peaceful people are still under the rubble. The toll regarding the number of victims is being clarified, it added in a statement posted on Telegram.
These statements could not be independently verified at this time.
Mariupol, a large city in southeastern Ukraine, has been the target of violent shelling by Russian forces and their pro-Russian separatist allies for several weeks.
On Thursday, Ukraine accused Moscow of bombing a theater in the city where hundreds of residents had taken refuge, ignoring the warning Dieti (Children in Russian) written on the ground in giant letters next to the building. There are no reports of casualties yet.
According to Kiev, more than 2,100 people have been killed in Mariupol since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
The survivors are holed up in cellars, suffering from multiple shortages. Survivors told of corpses lying in the streets for days, of hunger, thirst and bitter cold.
The city is of strategic importance insofar as its capture would allow Russia to link its troops in Crimea and those in the Donbass (east), while blocking access to the Sea of Azov to the Ukrainians.
In Kharkiv, in the east of the country, five people were killed in the bombing of an apartment building, according to police. According to local authorities, a nine-year-old boy was among the victims.