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The death toll from the bombing of a theater where more than a thousand people – including children – were said to have been sheltering is still unknown, Ukraine’s president has said.
Foreign ministry officials said civilians were buried under rubble after Wednesday’s attack in Mariupol and shelling was preventing them from assessing the number of consequence.
Days before the attack, a satellite image of the building shows the Russian word for ‘children’ written in giant letters at both ends of the building, in an apparent bid to protect it from the shelling.
Image: A satellite image shows the word ‘children’ written in Russian before the attack. Pic: Maxar
Live updates – Putin rages over ‘unforgivable’ Biden remarks
Russia’s defense ministry denied targeting the attack, according to Russian news agency RIA, instead accusing a far-right Ukrainian militia of blowing it up – but provided no evidence for this claim.
“Russian aircraft purposefully dropped a huge bomb on the drama theater in the city centre,” said President Zelenskyy in his nightly address.
“Hundreds of people were hiding from the shelling there… The building was destroyed. The death toll is still unknown.”
The city’s mayor Vadim Boychenko said on Wednesday night more than a thousand people had been sheltering in the theater, adding: “We will never forgive this.”
Image: Burning homes in a residential area in northeast Chernihiv Pic: Satellite image © 2022 Maxar Technologies
Russian invasion ‘largely stalled’
The latest Ministry of Defense update indicates Russian forces have made “minimal progress” on land, sea and air in recent days.
They “continue to suffer heavy losses” and the invasion has “largely stalled on all fronts”, the MoD said.
Meanwhile, it described the Ukrainian defense as “staunch and well-coordinated”, and said the vast majority of territory remains in Ukrainian hands.
3:22 Mariupol hospital an ‘image of hell’
This follows reports that Russia is struggling with resources and morale.
It comes as another morning attack on Kyiv, just after 5am on Thursday, killed at least one person and wounded three.
Emergency services said the 16-storey building was hit by remains of a downed missile.
Read more: Mariupol – a city under siege
In other developments:
• Zelenskyy to address German parliament this morning• Putin urges “self-purification” to rid Russia of anyone who questions• Fourth Russian general in fighting, Ukraine says• UN Security Council to hold meeting on Ukraine later today• People in at least seven cities in Belarus report hearing explosions late Wednesday
There was also condemnation yesterday when 10 people lining up to buy bread were killed in Chernihiv, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office.
Image: Homes and buildings before the invasion in Sumy. Pic: Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies Image: Homes and buildings in Sumy after the invasion. Pic: Satellite image © 2022 Maxar Technologies
Biden labels Putin ‘war criminal’
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, but such cases appear to have fueled President Biden’s incendiary assertion that Vladimir Putin is a “criminal war”.
Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s spokesman, called it “unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric by the leader of a country from whose bombs hundreds of thousands of people have died”.
2:49 Zelenskyy gets standing ovation from US Congress
Another $800m of military aid to Ukraine has been approved after President Zelenskyy addressed the US Congress and invoked the 9/11 and Pearl Harbor attacks.
America’s additional pledge includes 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems; 2,000 surface-to-air Javelin missiles; 6,000 portable anti-tank weapons and 100 so-called Switchblade “kamikaze” drones.
Despite peace talks appearing to make progress – with hints that Ukraine may agree to stay neutral and out of NATO – the situation on the ground remains grim.
An artillery shell started a fire and wiped out the top floor of another high-rise in Kyiv on Wednesday, with casualty numbers unclear.
3:25 Ukraine war: 5 things that happened on day 21
Relentless strikes also pounded the second-biggest city of Kharkiv, in the northeast. However, officials said they were still managing to hold off Russian moves into the heart of the city.
Another apparent success was in occupied Kherson, on the Black Sea, where new satellite images of the airport appeared to show Russian helicopters and vehicles on fire after a strike on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s General Staff said the Russians were trying to remove any surviving military equipment, and that further afield its ground on major offensive cities had mostly stalled.
Kidnapped mayor freed
In Melitopol a mayor kidnapped five days ago has also now been freed, President Zelenskyy said.
Video last week had shown Ivan Fedorov being marched out of city hall, apparently surrounded by Russian personnel.
“I talked to him today. The Russian military abducted him on March 11, trying to persuade him to cooperate. But our man withstood. He did not give up,” said Mr. Zelenskyy.
0:32 Moment mayor of Melitopol ‘abducted’
The Interfax Ukraine news agency – quoting the president’s press aid – said he was swapped for nine captured Russian soldiers.
The three-week war has now killed 726 civilians, the UK’s Ministry of Defense said in its latest update on Wednesday night, citing UN figures.
However, it said the true casualty figure “is likely to be significantly greater”.
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