Kiev, Europe Brief News – Russian warplanes targeted a theatre in the besieged southern city of Mariupol, sheltering hundreds of civilians.
Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov affirmed that between 1,000 and 1,200 people had sought refuge in the building.
However, the number of casualties is unclear till time of writing.
“It looks like most of them have survived,” local MP Dmytro Gurin said.
But Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the city’s mayor, earlier said emergency workers were struggling to reach the building due to constant shelling.
Social media users have shared images of the theatre showing extensive damage and smoke rising from the site.
Russia’s air strikes and shells have previously hit a maternity hospital, a church and apartment buildings.
Prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said on Facebook that 103 children died so far in the war.
Russian forces have struck more than 400 educational establishments and 59 of them destroyed, she said.
More than 500 civilians have been killed in Kharkiv since the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service said, Report informs via UNIAN.
“In total, more than 500 civilians died in Kharkiv; the rescuers had to extract 88 of them from under the rubble. Search work does not stop. Thanks to the rescuers’ efforts at the destruction sites, 189 human lives survived since the beginning of the hostilities,” the State Service said.
Ukrainian officials also made clear that the death toll was rising from the war that began when Russia invaded the country.
However, Russia denied more than once targeting civilians.
