On April 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that nearly four hundred Ukraine hospitals and other medical facilities in the country had been destroyed or damaged since the onset of Russia’s invasion.
“This amounts to a complete lack of medication for cancer patients,” Zelenskyy said. “It means extreme difficulties or a complete lack of insulin for diabetes. It is impossible to carry out surgery. It even means, quite simply, a lack of antibiotics.”
According to the Kremlin, Russian detachments only target military or strategic sites, not civilians. However, Ukraine reports civilian casualties from Russian shelling and fighting daily and accuses Russia of war crimes. Russia denies the allegations.
An estimated two hundred civilians remained trapped underground in the Azovstal plant in Mariupol with little food or water, The Dallas Express reports. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Russia is willing to provide safe passage for civilians while calling Ukrainian forces to disarm.
Epoch Times reports that on March 9, a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol was almost completely destroyed in one of the war’s most widely condemned acts. Russia claimed that the images of the attack were staged and that armed Ukrainian groups used the site.
On April 21, Putin declared victory in Mariupol and ordered his forces to seal off the plant. The Kremlin denies that Russian troops stormed the plant recently and claims that humanitarian corridors are in place. Russia’s military has promised to halt operations for the next two days to allow civilians to flee.
The Azov Regiment of Ukraine released aerial footage of the plant on Thursday, showing three explosions striking different parts of the vast complex engulfed in heavy, dark smoke. Reuters confirmed the location of the footage by matching buildings with satellite imagery but was unable to determine when the video was shot.