Russia Ukraine war live updates: Airstrikes hit Mariupol hospital, Russia confirms vacuum bombs used
Women and children have been “buried under rubble” after a maternity ward was hit by Russian forces as Vladimir Putin confirms the use of “devastating” weapons.
At least 17 people including women in labour have been wounded after a Russian airstrike destroyed a maternity hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine has claimed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said children were left “buried under the rubble” after the strike on Wednesday afternoon local time and branded the attack an “atrocity”.
“Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity!” Mr Zelensky tweeted alongside a video of the carnage.
Mariupol’s city council said the maternity and children’s hospital had been destroyed, adding that it did not know any casualty figures but that “the destruction is colossal”.
The airstrike was carried out during an agreed ceasefire period that was meant to allow the evacuation of civilians from the southern city, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
He added in a Facebook post: “So far there are 17 wounded personnel of the hospital” adding that “so far no kids were wounded” and there have been “no deaths”.
The governor of Donetsk region said “women in labour” were among those injured.
Horror footage showed the charred remains of the hospital with wounded staff and patients being rushed out of the building into a devastating scene of burning cars, shattered glass and smouldering rubble.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the air strike on a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, vowing to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin to account.
“There are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless,” Mr Johnson tweeted.
“The UK is exploring more support for Ukraine to defend against airstrikes and we will hold Putin to account for his terrible crimes,” he said, after a local official said the strike had wounded 17 hospital staff.
In parliament earlier, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK was preparing to send more portable missile systems to help Ukrainian forces destroy Russian tanks and aircraft.
But he denied Britain risked escalating the conflict, insisting the weaponry was “defensive”.”
Watch this,world. Watch pregnant Ukrainian women with their faces covered in blood. Watch facilities for newborn babies destroyed. Watch dead bodies buried in a mass grave because of incessant bombardment of Mariupol. You enabled Putin for years,and it's the result
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) March 9, 2022
📷E. Maloletka pic.twitter.com/tMghcVmZJz
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RUSSIA CONFIRMS USE OF ‘DEVASTATING’ WEAPONS
It comes as Russia’s defence ministry has reportedly confirmed it has used thermobaric weapons in Ukraine.
According to Britain’s Ministry of Defence, its Russian counterpart has announced the use of the TOS-1A weapon system, which uses deadly thermobaric rockets.
The “devastating” weapons have been described as “vacuum bombs” due to their ability to suck air of victims’ lungs and cause catastrophic injuries, including internal organ damage and suffocation.
The Russian MoD has confirmed the use of the TOS-1A weapon system in Ukraine. The TOS-1A uses thermobaric rockets, creating incendiary and blast effects.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 9, 2022
Watch the video below for more information about this weapon and its devastating impact.
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/d8PLQ0PhQD
While they are not specifically mentioned, there is a widespread belief that thermobaric weapons are banned under the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons due to their brutal nature
CHERNOBYL POWER CUT AFTER RUSSIAN AIRSTRIKE
Ukraine said Chernobyl is dangersoulsy close to leaking radiation and called for an urgent ceasefire to allow for repairs to be made after Russian troops disconnected it from the national grid.
Ukraine’s state-run company Energoatom said the power plant needs electricity to cool down the spent nuclear fuel which, if heated, risk leaking radioactive substances into the air. The decommissioned site is currently controlled by Russian forces.
“Work to repair the connection and restore power to the plant, which has been occupied by Russian troops, has not been possible because fighting is under way,” it said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a temporary ceasefire to repair the power line to the plant – and warned emergency generators would only last two days.
“Reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power the Chernobyl NPP,” he said.
“After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent.”
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said Ukrainian authorities have been unable to determine radiation levels at the nuclear power plant since Russian troops stormed the site.
He said Ukraine also had no control over what was happening at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where it said 400 Russian troops were stationed.
It comes as the UN’s nuclear watchdog warned the situation for Ukrainian staff working under Russian guard “was worsening”.
Meanwhile, some of the thousands of civilians trapped in besieged cities in Ukraine have been given tickets to freedom, with an agreed ceasefire by Russian forces opening some of the proposed humanitarian corridors to safety.
20 минут назад роÑÑийÑкие оккупанты нанеÑли авиаудар по детÑкой больнице в Мариуполе. Ð˜Ð½Ñ„Ð¾Ñ€Ð¼Ð°Ñ†Ð¸Ñ Ð¾ поÑтрадавших уточнÑетÑÑ.#Маріуполь#Мариуполь#мариупольновоÑти#маріупольновини#Mariupolpic.twitter.com/68nSa5hZ9P
— Украина ÐовоÑти / Ukraine War (@ukrainenewstop) March 9, 2022
20 минут назад роÑÑийÑкие оккупанты нанеÑли авиаудар по детÑкой больнице в Мариуполе. Ð˜Ð½Ñ„Ð¾Ñ€Ð¼Ð°Ñ†Ð¸Ñ Ð¾ поÑтрадавших уточнÑетÑÑ.#Маріуполь#Мариуполь#мариупольновоÑти#маріупольновини#Mariupolpic.twitter.com/68nSa5hZ9P
— Украина ÐовоÑти / Ukraine War (@ukrainenewstop) March 9, 2022
But there was confusion and a communications breakdown in Mariupol, one of the most pummelled cities in the country, with buses entering but mostly leaving empty.
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 ЗеленÑький (@ZelenskyyUa) March 9, 2022
Ukrainian forces struck back against invading Russian forces with now-verified reports they had brought down 11 fighters and 11 helicopters so far and damaged others to inoperability.
Russia’s failure to win air superiority has allowed Ukrainian armed drones, sent by Turkey, to pick off elements of Russian convoys, exasperating resupply lines, which in turn has stalled the Kremlin’s war.
The United States estimates between 2000 and 4000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the invasion, which has been going for nearly two weeks.
But the besieged nation’s biggest strike was not in the air but in oil, with the US and UK buckling to pressure from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the international community to stop buying Russian oil.
“We will not be part of subsidising Putin’s war,” US President Joe Biden declared, calling the new action a “powerful blow” against Russia’s ability to fund the ongoing offensive.
The US will ban all oil imports from Russia with the move to have global implications for the cost of fuel at the bowser, not just in the US but Australia too.
The UK also announced a phase-out the import of Russian oil and oil products by the end of the year.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwateng said: “This transition will give the market, businesses and supply chains more than enough time to replace Russian imports – which make up 8 per cent of UK demand.
“The market has already begun to ostracise Russian oil, with nearly 70 per cent of it currently unable to find a buyer,” he said.
Australian energy company Viva also dived in, saying it would stop buying Russian crude oil, joining the growing list of businesses distancing themselves from Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
Viva, which operates under the Shell group of companies, said it was “appalled” at “this terrible conflict”.
The EU is expected to make a similar announcement later this week.
The Brent Crude oil prices immediately rose to US$131.95 a barrel yesterday on the announcements and is expected to go higher by week’s end. A year ago it was trading for US$61 a barrel.
Russian president Vladimir Putin had warned global counterparts not to make such as drastic move, warning there would be blowback to the Wests’ economies.
After extensive pressure, multinational companies McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Starbucks and Amazon’s cloud-computing unit Amazon Web Services pulled out of Russia on Wednesday in protest against the invasion.
“Our hearts are with the people who are enduring unconscionable effects from these tragic events in Ukraine,” Coca-Cola said in a statement announcing that it was “suspending its business in Russia.”
Meanwhile on the evacuations, in Sumy in Ukraine’s north east, two convoys managed to leave carrying more than 1000 Indian and Chinese students and Ukrainian families.
In Irpin, two convoys evacuated civilians but in Mariupol, humanitarian buses went in with food and water for those refusing to leave.
They were expected to return with evacuees but the exit route was bombed by Russian forces and the buses largely left empty.
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