Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the world of “losing humanity” by refusing to provide a no-fly zone over his country, after a Russian air strike destroyed a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Video footage of the maternity hospital taken after the blast showed a large crater in the ground just metres from the hospital.
All the windows and part of the outer wall of the three-storey building were blown out by the force of the blast.
The Ukrainian government said Wednesday that at least 1,170 people had been killed in Mariupol alone since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the attack on Ukraine.
Satellite images of the port city published by Maxar, a private company, showed widespread damage to entire neighbourhoods.
In the attack, at least eight unguided aerial munitions – known as “dumb bombs” – struck a public square in the city.
Russia describes the war as a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and remove the supposedly “Nazi” government of Mr. Zelensky, who is Jewish. »