Awful
At least three people, including one child, are thought to have been killed in the Russian bombing of a hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday, March 9.
The airstrike, which Mariupol City Council says “completely destroyed” the building in the southern port city, took place while women were giving birth in the children’s and maternity hospital.
Trigger warning: images may cause distress
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1501775266997506052?s=20&t=mwEn_VnXkQbxPRrwPAwKzw
Among the 17 injured in the attack, two adults and a six-year-old girl are said to have died, according to a statement from the council via Telegram.
Since the news of the horrific attack on innocent civilians broke, world leaders have issued statements condemning Russia and Vladimir Putin‘s inhumane actions. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had this to say:
There are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless.
The UK is exploring more support for Ukraine to defend against airstrikes and we will hold Putin to account for his terrible crimes. #PutinMustFail https://t.co/JBuvB78HVC
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 9, 2022
Ukraine’s President Vlodoymyr Zelensky posted raw footage showing the aftermath of the barrage, pleading with global powers to do more, close the airspace and “stop the killings”.
Mariupol. Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity. pic.twitter.com/FoaNdbKH5k
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 9, 2022
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden issued an address to the American people and the global stage, warning that if the world does not respond to “Putin’s assault on global peace and stability today” the consequences will be “even greater tomorrow”.
As he went on to summarise, the Mariupol hospital bombing is just one of a number of heinous and barbaric attacks on the Ukrainian people, with more than 360 civilians said to have been killed during the conflict.
If we do not respond to Putin’s assault on global peace and stability today, the cost to freedom and to the American people will be even greater tomorrow. We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war against the Ukrainian people. pic.twitter.com/3PgsHheIiZ
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 9, 2022
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