It's "Armageddon" in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Mayor Vadym Boichenko said Thursday, with residents there having experienced "two days of hell."
In a video posted online, Boichenko said Russian planes are flying over residential areas of the city every 30 minutes and "killing civilians: old people, women, children." Mariupol has been without water and electricity for several days, and there are food and medicine shortages. Russian forces surround the city, and because of heavy shelling, local officials say residents have been unable to evacuate.
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On Wednesday, a Russian strike hit a Mariupol maternity and children's hospital, leaving three dead and 17 injured. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack an "atrocity," and video taken in the aftermath shows pregnant women being wheeled out of the damaged building. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed on Thursday that there were no women or children inside the hospital, and it was being used to house Ukrainian fighters. He did not provide any evidence for his claim.
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