Russian military ‘bombed Mariupol art school’
Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday that the Russian military bombed an art school where about 400 people had taken refuge in Mariupol.
Local authorities said the school’s building was destroyed and people could remain under the rubble. The attack has not been confirmed and there was no immediate word on casualties.
A group of 19 children, most of them orphans, are “in great danger”, stranded in a sanatorium, their guardians having been unable to recover them because of the fighting, their relatives and witnesses told AFP on Saturday.
Last Wednesday Russian forces bombed a theatre in the city where civilians were sheltering. City authorities said 130 people were rescued but many more could remain under the debris.
Capturing Mariupol would be a strategic coup for Russia. The relentless bombardment by Putin’s forces has left hundreds of thousands of people trapped in appalling conditions. Amid a shortage of water, gas and electricity, people have spent nights spent in cellars with sub-zero temperatures. Bodies have been left lying in the streets for several days.