A mosque in the southeastern region of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where 80 civilians were taking shelter, has been shelled by Russian forces, said by Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Saturday.
While taking it to Twitter to announce about the incident, the ministry, “The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificant and his wife Roxolona (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders. More than 80 adults, as well as children, are hiding there from the shelling, including citizens of Turkey.”
It did not further specify about when the shelling took place. Mariupol has been under siege and bombardment for more than a week and is encircled by Russian troops.
The situation in the strategic Mariupol was “desperate,” where civilians have been desperately trying to flee, but were facing a shortage of water and heating and are also facing a lack of food, as said by top Doctors Without Borders executive.
As per the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on Friday, stating that, “Besieged Mariupol is now the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the planet. 1,582 dead civilians in 12 days.”
Three(3) people, including a child, were killed when a children’s hospital in the city was attacked on Wednesday, sparking international outrage.
Against this backdrop, a new attempt is being made to open up a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to evacuate the city towards Zaporizhzhia, around 200 kilometres to the northeast, said Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
For days, Ukrainians have claimed that the Russian military has been pounding the evacuation route, preventing people from leaving.
As on previous days, humanitarian corridors were also to be opened again around Kyiv.
“I hope that the day will be going to be well, that the planned routes will be open and that Russia will meet its obligations regarding the observance of the ceasefire,” Vereshchuk said in a video uploaded to the website of the Ukrainian presidency.