Russian Airstrike Devastates Ukraine Maternity Hospital
March 9, 2022
A maternity hospital in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol was severely damaged by a Russian airstrike on Wednesday, leaving at least 17 people wounded or injured, Ukrainian officials said. Associated Press. The Associated Press reported that the blast created a crater at least two stories deep, shattered windows, and ripped off much of the building’s facade. Videos and photographs show burnt cars and trees near the building and people helping victims leave the area, including a pregnant woman on a stretcher.
President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted a video showing debris and broken furniture inside the hospital.
“Mariupol. A direct strike by Russian troops on the maternity hospital,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter. “People, children under the rubble. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky now! Stop killing. You have power, but you seem to be losing your humanity.”
“Today, Russia committed a huge crime,” said Vladimir Nikulin, a senior regional police official, from the ruins of a hospital, according to the Associated Press. What is a war crime without any justification? According to the Associated Press, Mariupol has been heavily bombed. And most residents have been without electricity, heat, water, or telephones for more than a week.
Mariupol Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov said 1,170 residents had died, with 47 buried in a mass grave on Wednesday. The keeper reported.
“This is the Middle Ages,” he said. “This is pure genocide. The attack is not just treacherous. What is a war crime? We are being attacked by aircraft, shells, multiple rocket launchers.”
