Man Stands In Huge Hole Made By Bomb At Mariupol Children's Hospital

Footage has emerged of a man standing in the middle of a massive hole after Russian shelling destroyed a children's hospital in Ukraine.

At least three people are believed to have been killed, including a six-year-old child, after a maternity and children's hospital in the southern port city of Mariupol was hit by a Russian airstrike. A further 17 were injured, including pregnant women, Ukrainian officials said.

Mariupol's mayor Sergei Orlov said: 'The last information that we have about victims is that most of the visitors were in a bomb shelter. That's why we have information about 17 injured people - and that's mostly pregnant women and doctors who work in this hospital.'

Photos and clips from the aftermath of the bombing have been circulating on social media, with one clip from the Associated Press showing a man climbing down into a shell crater from the Russian attack.

The man says into his walkie talkie: 'Repeat, where to bring the injured ones to, children from the maternity home?'

The footage was shared by the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and similar images have also been posted online.

While Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov has been quoted claiming Russian forces have taken control of several neighbourhoods in the city, the Kremlin denied any responsibility for the hospital bombing, even branding the claims as 'information terrorism'. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy described the attack as 'genocide'.

The hole left by Russian shelling at the hospital. (Shutterstock)

He said in a statement: 'Europeans, you can't say you didn't see what is happening. You have to tighten the sanctions until Russia can't continue their savage war.

'What kind of country bombs hospitals? Is afraid of hospitals? Of a maternity ward?

'Was someone insulting Russians? Were pregnant women shooting in direction of Rostov? Was it the 'denazification' of a hospital?

'What the Russians did at Mariupol was beyond savagery.'

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Orlov also said he was 'absolutely sure' Putin's troops knew who'd be harmed in the airstrike.

He said: 'This is the third hospital that they have destroyed in the city. I’m absolutely sure they know what are their targets.'

UK Defence Minister James Heappey believes the Mariupol bombing constitutes a war crime, and that evidence must be gathered prove this.

He said, as per The Independent: 'What Putin is doing is not a war waged between two militaries. Right now, he has besieged a number of Ukrainian cities and has waged a war against Ukrainian civilians.

'What matters beyond the outrage of the fact that this has happened in the first place is to make sure all this is catalogued so when, and they surely will be, President Putin and everybody in the military chain of command beneath him - because war crimes are committed at every level not just the ultimate decision maker - people will be held to account for what they are doing in.

'It’s utterly despicable.'

If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information

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