Russia’s bombardment of paediatric and maternity hospital in southern Ukraine has been condemned as “barbaric” and “depraved”.
Ukraine said Vladimir Putin’s forces dropped “several bombs” on the hospital in Mariupol, on the Black Sea coast, on Wednesday during what was meant to be a ceasefire to allow civilians to be evacuated.
Seventeen people – including a number of women in labour – were injured amid the “colossal” destruction, the city’s council said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack as “barbaric” and urged the West to intervene to prevent “genocide”.
He has also accused Ukraine’s allies in the West of “ignoring terror” – as his numerous requests for a no-fly zone over Ukraine have been repeatedly denied by Nato.
Boris Johnson condemned the attack, saying there were “few things more depraved than the targeting of vulnerable and defenceless people”.
