Authorities in Ukraine have blamed Russian forces for bombing a theatre as well as a pool facility in the besieged southern city of Mariupol, where hundreds of civilians, including pregnant women and children, are said to have taken refuge from the conflict.
The head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, has shared pictures and videos of the Mariupol Drama Theatre and the Neptune Pool buildings on Telegram, saying the “Russians are deliberately attacking civilians” after Wednesday’s bombings.
The photos have shown that the middle section of the theatre building was entirely destroyed with thick white smoke rising from the rubble. Videos of the pool facility show windows, doors, and the roof blew out.
He added there were pregnant women and children under the debris and condemned the attack as “pure terrorism.”
Satellite images of the theatre on March 14, shared by private satellite company Maxar, showed the words “children” clearly etched out in the ground in the Russian on either side of the building.
The foreign ministry of Ukraine said Russia had committed a “horrendous war crime.”
It further said, “It is impossible to find words to describe the level of cynicism and cruelty. Russian invaders are destroying peaceful residents of a Ukrainian city by the sea.”
As per the reports, “The Russian defence ministry denied attacking the building and accused the Azov Battalion, a far-right Ukrainian militia, of blowing it up.”
It has provided no proof to support the allegation. Authorities in Mariupol has also rejected the Russian claim as “lies.”
Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, said the Russians “are well aware that were only children.”
The Mariupol City Council suggested hundreds of people were in the building at the attack time.
The Mariupol City Council asserted via a Telegram post, “The invaders destroyed the Drama Theatre. A place where more than a thousand people found refugees. We will never forgive this.”