Russian forces have attacked a Red Cross facility in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine said today, where officials have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.
But despite the dire situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the shelling of the city would only end if Ukrainian troops in the city surrendered.
“In Mariupol, the occupiers targeted the building of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),” Ukrainian Ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova said in a statement, adding that the building “marked with a red cross on a white background” was attacked by planes and artillery.
An ICRC spokeswoman confirmed that images of a destroyed building circulating on social media were warehouses owned by the organization in Mariupol. They showed a building with huge holes in the roof – and a red cross.
“We don’t have a team on the ground, so we don’t have any other information, including about possible casualties or damage,” the spokeswoman said, adding that all supplies stored there have been distributed.
The attack came a day after the ICRC urged Ukraine and Russia to agree on the delivery of relief supplies and the safe evacuation of civilians from the city, which is rapidly running out of essential supplies. It is feared that 160,000 people are still trapped in the city.
Earlier, apocalyptic drone footage showed the extent of the destruction in Mariupol, where the mayor’s office today claimed Putin’s forces kidnapped 70 women and medics from a maternity hospital and took them to Russia.
Mariupol was nearly destroyed by Moscow’s forces, and the shocking aerial video shows the sheer extent of the destruction of what was a quaint port city of 400,000 people before Putin’s February 24 invasion.
Now, more than 20,000 residents of the city have been taken to Russia “against their will,” where their identity documents were confiscated and before they were taken “to distant Russian cities,” the mayor’s office said on its Telegram channel.
Pictured: Aerial drone footage shows ruined buildings in Mariupol stretching as far as the eye can see. Today, Kyiv accused Russian forces of attacking a Red Cross facility in the city
Pictured: A still from drone footage released by the Ukrainian military showing a Red Cross building damaged by Russian airstrikes. The International Committee of the Red Cross said the building had been a target for planes and artillery
“More than 70 people, women and medical personnel from the Left Bank District No. 2 Maternity Hospital were forcibly removed by the occupiers,” the bureau said.
The information could not be independently verified as Mariupol was besieged and intensively bombed for a month, with communications largely cut off.
Another maternity hospital in Mariupol was hit by a Russian bomb attack on March 9, drawing international condemnation.
At least three people, including a child, died in the attack.
Russian officials denied the attack as being orchestrated by Ukraine, claiming that the hospital was being used by extremist Ukrainian forces and that all medical staff and patients had long since disappeared.
In recent days, France, Greece and Turkey have tried to organize a mass evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, but talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Putin ended without an agreement on Tuesday.
The proposal was rejected by the Russian leader, who said “nationalists” in the city would have to surrender before the “difficult humanitarian situation” was resolved, effectively derailing the planned aid mission.
His comments came after aerial footage from drones showed destroyed buildings stretching as far as the eye can see. Only one building appears to have survived the rubble – the city’s impressive Russian Orthodox Cathedral.
Mariupol was nearly destroyed by Moscow’s forces, with shocking aerial video (pictured) showing the sheer extent of the destruction of a quaint port city that was home to 400,000 people before Putin’s February 24 invasion
The footage shows the ruins of the City Theater, which was destroyed in an air raid on March 16. At the time, it served as civilian accommodation and was attacked even though the word “Children” was written outside in large letters. Up to 300 deaths are feared
Russian forces have encircled the city and their steady and indiscriminate bombardment has killed at least 5,000 people, but possibly as many as 20,000 by some estimates
Only one building appears to have survived the rubble – the city’s impressive Russian Orthodox Cathedral (pictured above in this drone still image).
Commentators said this was further evidence that Kremlin forces’ attacks on the surrounding civilian buildings were premeditated as they apparently managed to avoid attacking the historic building.
Footage also showed the ruins of the city’s theater, which was destroyed in an airstrike on March 16. It was then used as a civilian shelter and was attacked even though the word “Children” was written outside in large letters.
Estimates of the number of people inside the theater have varied, with initial reports claiming as many as 1,300 people were taking shelter.
The Russian shelling has meant officials were unable to get close enough to the theater to assess the full extent of the destruction, but up to 300 people are believed to have been killed.
Wednesday’s strike at the Red Cross building came after ICRC director-general Robert Mardini said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian branch in Kropyvnytskyi was attacked.
An ICRC spokesman later said an angry individual confronted Red Cross workers and physically assaulted the office, causing some damage but no injuries.
Asked yesterday about Ukraine’s allegations of forced deportation of Mariupol residents to Russia, Mardini said he had no direct information and would not participate in any as it was against the rules of war.
Damaged buildings are seen as civilians are evacuated March 26, 2022 along humanitarian corridors from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol under the control of the Russian military and pro-Russian separatists
Mariana Vishegirskaya stands outside a maternity hospital damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday March 9, 2022
“People get caught and caught in the line of fire. And that’s unfortunately happening in many places in Ukraine today, not just in Mariupol,” Mardini said at ICRC headquarters in Geneva, five weeks after Russia launched its invasion.
“What we expect and what is required for civilians is that there is a clear and explicit agreement between both sides on the safe evacuation of civilians.”
As Russia unleashed a global shock by shelling residential areas, the ICRC issued a statement on Tuesday reminding the warring parties of international obligations to protect civilians and targeting only military targets.
Russia is calling its mission a “special operation” to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine.
Mardini said there has been an “outrageous” disinformation campaign against the ICRC on social media and a politicization of humanitarian work that increases risks for aid workers.
The ICRC is in talks to open an operational base in Rostov-on-Don in Russia as part of its regional expansion, but it should not be misunderstood that it is linked to deportations, Mardini said.
Mardini also called on Ukraine and Russia to allow the ICRC to visit prisoners of war, as it does around the world in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, and to return the remains of the dead.
“It’s always sensitive, but I think there’s also a humanitarian imperative for prisoners and families to have news about their loved ones,” he said.
A look at the destruction of the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine on Saturday, March 26th
Destroyed apartment buildings and houses east of Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 29, 2022, is this satellite image distributed by Maxar Technologies
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the Russian siege of Mariupol a “crime against humanity” on Tuesday.
The president said about 20,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far, although the number of casualties cannot be independently verified.
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have made little headway for the estimated 160,000 people still trapped in Mariupol with little food, water or medicine.
Russian forces have encircled the city and their steady and indiscriminate bombardment has killed at least 5,000 people and possibly as many as 20,000, according to a Ukrainian official.
Aid groups have regularly demanded access to Mariupol and denounced its hellish conditions, and Ukrainian officials have accused Russian troops of forcibly deporting residents to Russia.
Civilians who managed to escape Mariupol describe a place with “death everywhere.”
“We buried our neighbors, we saw death everywhere and even my children saw it,” said Mariia Tsymmerman, who fled to Zaporizhia two weeks ago but is now making the perilous journey back to deliver relief supplies and help others to help the departure.
“I know a woman who killed her own dog to feed her children,” she said.