As the war between Russia and Ukraine entered its third week, civilians across Ukraine were subjected to increasing attacks by Russian troops. There have been multiple accusations of Moscow committing war crimes so far.
Ukrainian officials said that a hospital in the southern city of Mariupol was bombed following an airstrike where three people were killed on Thursday.
Russian troops moved closer to the capital city of Kyiv as well and could be just ten miles from the centre of the town, reported a US defence official.
Russia denies carrying out an airstrike in Mariupol
The Russian defence ministry denied having bombed a hospital in the Mariupol area and accused Ukraine of “staged provocation”. The ministry said they did not carry out any airstrikes in the area as they respect an agreed “silent regime”.
Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Ukrainian forces had control over the hospital. Kremlin added that there was a need to ascertain clear facts.
Russian officials continue to deny any and all airstrikes even as an increasing number of residential areas come under fire from these airstrikes. Schools, hospitals, homes and vital infrastructure have been consequently destroyed.
“The supposed ‘air strike’ was a completely directed provocation to sustain the anti-Russian sentiment in the Western audience,” said a Russian news agency, RIA Novosti.
The photos of the aftermath showed “two separate staged explosions next to the hospital. One was a deep underground explosion, and the other one was smaller and was targeted at the hospital building,” it said.
Ukrainian civilians living in dire condition under the Russian attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused its neighbour of carrying out genocide. Three people, including a child, were killed in the airstrike on the hospital carried out on Wednesday. Russia’s attack has left many innocent civilians in dire conditions.
Attempts to create a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians in Mariupol have failed once again, with absolutely no civilians being evacuated from the heavily hit port city on Thursday.
Deputy PM of Ukraine, Iryna Vereshchuk, said the situation in Volnovakha and Mariupol is the most difficult to deal with. More than two million Ukrainian have fled the country or have been displaced with the nation.
