Mar 18,2022: Rescue workers searched for survivors in the rubble of a theatre in the besieged city of Mariupol which Ukraine said had been hit by a Russian air raid, as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine entered its fourth week.
Hundreds of civilians had been taking shelter in the grand, columned theatre in central Mariupol after their homes were destroyed in three weeks of fighting in the southern port city of 430,000. Russia denied bombing the building.
City authorities said they were still not able to estimate the number of possible casualties from the attack on the theatre.
“Yesterday and today, despite continuous shelling, rubble is being cleared as much as is possible and people are being rescued. Information about victims is still being clarified,” the city council said in a statement. It provided no figures on the numbers rescued.
Commercial satellite pictures showed the word “children” had been marked out on the ground in front of the building before it was hit.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the allegation that Russia had bombed the theatre was a “lie”.
“Russia’s armed forces don’t bomb towns and cities,” she told a briefing.
Local authorities said 350,000 people remain trapped in Mariupol, and that 30,000 had been evacuated in recent days.
No breakthrough at talks
Officials from both sides met again for talks but said their positions remained far apart as Western sources and Ukrainian officials said Russia’s assault had stalled.
The assault on Ukraine started with troops crossing the border or landing by sea and air on February 24.
But Western countries say its expectations of a swift victory and the removal of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government have been dashed and its invasion force has become bogged down.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said Russian forces had made no significant advances around the capital, Kyiv, in the previous 24-48 hours and had resorted to “chaotic” shelling.
