According to the city administration, there were apparently no fatalities in the attack on a theater used as a shelter for civilians in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. According to initial information, there were no deaths, the city administration said on Friday on the Telegram Internet service. According to this, one person was seriously injured.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 130 people had been rescued from the rubble of the theater, and hundreds more were still trapped under the rubble. According to Ukrainian sources, Russia had bombed the theater on Wednesday, even though the word “Children” in Russian was prominently painted on the floor in front of both sides of the building.
Russia denied the charge of carrying out the attack. As with the attacks on a maternity hospital in Mariupol last week, Moscow blamed the nationalist Ukrainian Azov Brigade. Because of Russia’s siege of Mariupol, the information cannot be independently verified. The shelling of the theater sparked international outrage.
Moscow sees rapprochement – Kyiv does not
According to Russian information, progress has been made in negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv to end the fighting. Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said they had come closer to neutrality and Ukraine’s renunciation of NATO membership.
Ukraine, on the other hand, complained that Russia had not moved during the negotiations. Russia has repeated its demands, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podoliak tweeted. He accused the Russian side of fueling tensions with their statements in the media.
He reiterated Ukrainian demands for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian troops and security guarantees for Ukraine. Medinski said there was talk of nuances in security guarantees for Ukraine should it not become a member of NATO. The demilitarization demanded by Russia is halfway there.
Debate: What will be the impact of the war?
Russian President Vladimir Putin is continuing the war in Ukraine despite international appeals and sanctions. How effective are sanctions? Why is Ukraine so alone? What is the best way to help refugees? What effects will the war have?
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