- Russian troops shelled an art school in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
- The school was being used as a shelter for civilians, including children and the elderly.
- The intense Russian bombardment of Mariupol civilian targets include a maternity hospital and a theatre.
Russian forces have destroyed an art school in the besieged city of Mariupol, southern Ukraine, which was housing 400 sheltering civilians, including children and the elderly.
Announcing the attack on Telegram, Mariupol City Council said, "️It is known that the building was destroyed, and peaceful people are still under the rubble," adding that there is currently no information regarding death tolls or casualties.
"Fascist Russian troops continue the genocide of the Ukrainian people and civilians in Mariupol. Every war criminal will be held accountable for his crimes against humanity, against the people of Mariupol!" they said.
Civilian buildings hit by the intense Russian bombardment include a maternity hospital and a theatre with more than 1300 people now trapped inside.
Satellite images show that the theatre had the word "CHILDREN" written in Russian on the ground at the front and back, to alert Russian forces of who was inside.
In Mariupol, food, water, and electricity are in short supply, and at least 2,400 people have died in the city, according to the New York Times, but the real number may be much higher.
"To do this to a peaceful city, what the occupiers did, is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address, AP report. "The more Russia uses terror against Ukraine, the worse the consequences for it," he said.
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