Russian forces reportedly landed an airstrike on Wednesday at a hospital in Mariupol that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned left adults and kids beneath the rubble.

"Mariupol. Direct strike of Russian troops on the maternity hospital," Zelensky tweeted. "Individuals, kids are underneath the wreckage. Atrocity! How for much longer will the world be an confederate ignoring terror? Shut the sky proper now! Cease the killings! You may have energy however you appear to be dropping humanity."

The Mariupol Metropolis Council first reported the assault with pictures and movies of the harm spreading on social media by Ukrainian shops just like the Kyiv Unbiased.

"Thus far, Russian occupation forces have dropped a number of bombs on a kids's hospital. The destruction is big," a translation of the Mariupol Metropolis Council's Telegram message learn. "The constructing of the medical establishment the place the kids had been handled just lately was fully destroyed. Details about the affected kids is being clarified."

Russia has denied attacking civilians whereas accusations have mounted from Ukrainian civilians and authorities officers that the Russian navy has violated short-term cease-fire agreements to permit for the evacuation of civilians.

Ukraine Russia Mariupol Hospital Airstrike
A hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, was reportedly hit by a Russian airstrike Wednesday. Above, folks have a look at the outside of a broken residential block hit by an early morning missile strike on February 25, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine.Chris McGrath/Getty Pictures

A Twitter account attributed to Dmytro Gurin, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, tweeted together with a video of the hospital that no deaths had been confirmed, with not less than 17 folks injured.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Protection Ministry however didn't hear again in time for publication.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly mentioned throughout a name with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday that Ukrainian "nationalists" had been in charge for the breach of cease-fire agreements alongside humanitarian corridors, in accordance with the Related Press.

Nevertheless, Ukrainian officers and different experiences have mentioned that continued shelling and different assaults from Russian forces have rendered civilian evacuations unimaginable.

"There are few issues extra wicked than focusing on the weak and defenceless," U.Okay. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted in response to experiences of the assault. "The UK is exploring extra help for Ukraine to defend in opposition to airstrikes and we'll maintain Putin to account for his horrible crimes."

Video shared by the Mariupol Metropolis Council on Telegram reveals in depth harm to a number of buildings, in addition to a number of destroyed vehicles within the space. Authorities haven't but confirmed the variety of folks wounded or killed.

"Petrifying struggle crime in Mariupol. Russian air strike focused a hospital and a maternity home," Ukrainian International Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba mentioned in a tweet. "We might cease this barbarism by defending our skies. For the sake of humanity, present us with plane, now! Lives are being misplaced whereas that is being thought-about over and over."

Kuleba additionally tweeted earlier Wednesday accusations that Russian forces had been blocking not less than 400,000 folks from leaving Mariupol, and mentioned hundreds of infants lacked the right drugs and care due to Russian forces blocking essential assist.

A Kremlin spokesperson informed Reuters that "Russian forces don't fireplace on civilian targets."

In different movies that had been shared Wednesday, CNN recognized a college constructing and metropolis authorities constructing close to the hospital that had been reportedly broken in a strike across the identical time that the hospital was hit.

Replace: 3/9/22, 1:06 p.m. ET: This story has been up to date with further context and data.