17 staff wounded by air strike on Mariupol children's hospital: official

A Russian air strike on Wednesday severely damaged a paediatric and maternity hospital in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, injuring at least 17, local official Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video on Twitter showing massive destruction at the large medical complex, including blown-out windows and internal walls ripped out, which he said was caused by a "direct strike by Russian troops".

He said that adults and children were "under the wreckage".

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

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 9, 2022

"So far there are 17 wounded personnel of the hospital," Kyrylenko, the head of the southeastern Donetsk region, said later in a video posted on Facebook.

He added that "so far no kids were wounded" and there have been "no deaths".

Kyrylenko said on Facebook that the attack "literally destroyed" a maternity hospital in the centre of the city that also included a paediatric unit.

He said that a Russian pilot evidently knew where the bomb would land.

Seeing the pregnant woman walking out of the destroyed building of the maternity ward in #Mariupol makes my blood run cold.
Hard to imagine how many children have been killed as a result of Russian air strike on the children’s hospital today.@ICRC @UN #SafePassageForCivilians pic.twitter.com/WKNwzE3vwW

— Olena Ivantsiv (@OlenaIvantsiv) March 9, 2022

At least 1,170 civilians have been killed in Mariupol since the start of the Russian invasion, a Ukrainian state information agency said on Wednesday, citing figures from Mariupol's deputy mayor.

"At least 1,170 people have been killed and 47 were buried in a mass grave today," deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov was quoted as saying. "People are without water, heat, electricity, gas, residents are melting snow to drink."

Mariupol on the Azov Sea in southeastern Ukraine is surrounded by Russian forces, who have bombarded the city despite promises of a ceasefire to allow civilians to be evacuated.

Videos posted by Kyrylenko and the city authorities showed the evacuation of the hospital including a woman on a stretcher and a woman being supported by two men as she walks out.

They show a huge crater in the yard of the hospital, branches snapped from trees and burning cars, while cladding has been ripped from the building's facade.

Zelensky condemned the attack as an "atrocity" and called again for a no-fly zone to be imposed over the country. NATO has refused to do this.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also condemned the attack, saying: "There are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless."