Ukraine Says Mosque Housing 80 Civilians Shelled in Mariupol
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A mosque in the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where 80 civilians were seeking refuge, was attacked, Ukraine's foreign ministry said on Saturday.
"The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled .... More than 80 adults and children are hiding there from the shelling, including citizens of Turkey," the ministry wrote on its Twitter account, NDTV reported.
It did not specify when the shelling took place.
Mariupol has been under siege and bombardment for more than a week and is encircled by Russian troops.
The situation in the strategic port city was "desperate", where civilians have been desperately trying to flee, but were without water or heating, and running out of food, a top Doctors Without Borders executive said Friday.
As the Russian army continues to advance and besiege Kiev, strikes hit the town of Vasylkiv on Saturday morning, about 40 kilometres south of the capital.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help from the heads of the Donbass republics.
He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aims to "demilitarize and denazify" the country.
Later he stated that one of Moscow's key demands was that Ukraine remain neutral.