‘An atrocity’: Russia accused of bombing Ukraine hospital during ceasefire
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Russia was today accused of breaking a ceasefire to bomb a hospital in the under siege city of Mariupol in what was described as an “atrocity” and act of terror by Volodymyr Zelensky.
The city has faced heavy shelling over the past week and has become the site of an impending humanitarian disaster, with civilians cut off from power, water and any means of escaping.
Zelensky posted on Twitter a video from what was claimed to be the bombed maternity hospital and wrote: “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?”
Boris Johnson said: “There are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless.”
Kyiv today said it had agreed with Moscow to a series of humanitarian routes to allow civilians to leave under siege cities, however it comes after widespread evidence of Russian troops targeting refugees during ceasefires over the past week.
Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, told MPs on the Home Affairs Committee that Johnson should drop all barriers for Ukrainian refugees trying to enter Britain.
The UK has taken in around 1,000 Ukrainians out of the estimated 2m who have fled the country.
When asked if the UK should waive visa requirements for the millions of refugees fleeing war, Prystaiko said: “I understand how sensitive it is for your society, especially after the immigration crisis, refugee crisis with Syrians, which we believe was manufactured by Russia pushing out these people from Syria, flooding with immigration, wave after wave, to Europe.
“That would definitely resolve all the issues, but how reasonable, how justified it is with your own system, that’s frankly for you to decide.
“We will be happy if all the barriers are dropped for some period of time when we can get maximum (numbers) of people, then we will deal with that.”
It was revealed today that the UK’s new “pop-up” refugee processing centre in Lille, France, would only have limited capacity.