Status: 03/17/2022 11:26 am
Rocket fragments hit an apartment building in Kyiv. It is said that one person died and at least three were injured. In Mariupol, the air raid shelter of a theater that was attacked is said to have withstood.
Fighting continues in Ukraine. At least one person was killed when debris from an intercepted missile hit a high-rise building in the east of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv during the night, according to authorities. Three residents were injured, the emergency services said.
A video showed fire in an apartment and lots of debris in front of the multi-storey house. Residents were taken to safety. The rescue service also reported significant destruction on an upper floor.
Ukrainian army reports destroyed school
The Ukrainian army reported in the morning that there had been shelling throughout the night in the Kharkiv region. Houses were also hit. “Fighting continues in the direction of Izyum and Chuhuiv.” In the town of Merefa, a school and a cultural center were destroyed. There are injuries. Exact numbers were not initially given. No information was initially available from Russia.
The Ukrainian army reported violent explosions from the Cherson region in the south-east on the Dnieper River. The area is completely occupied by Russian troops. The supply of electricity, water and gas was interrupted almost everywhere. There is a lack of food and medicine. “The situation is critical.” Information from the war zone can hardly be verified independently.
conflicting parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body.
A bomb attack on a theater building was reported from surrounded Mariupol on Wednesday. Mayor Vadim Bojchenko said more than 1,000 people were there and it was “another tragedy”. The civilians are said to have taken shelter in the building.
The Russian Defense Ministry has denied bombing the theater or anywhere else in Mariupol.
The company Maxar, which specializes in satellite photos, announced that recordings from Monday showed that the word “children” in Russian was written in large white letters in front of and behind the theater.
Air raid shelter is said to have remained intact
Initially, there was no information about dead or injured. According to information from the member of parliament Serhiy Taruta in the morning, the air-raid shelter is said to have remained intact. “After a terrible night of uncertainty, on the morning of the 22nd day of the war, finally good news from Mariupol! The air raid shelter held out,” Taruta wrote on Facebook. The debris had started to be removed. “People come out alive!”
The shaded areas show the areas in Ukraine controlled by the Russian army.
Bild: ISW / 16.03.2022
Petro Andrushchenko, an adviser to Mayor Boychenko, said in a phone call to Archyde.com news agency: “Now the rubble is being cleared. There are survivors.”
The human rights organization Human Rights said evidence of the bombing of the building was still being examined. “But we do know that the theater housed at least 500 civilians,” said senior HRW crisis and conflict researcher Belkis Wille. Check three videos posted on Telegram.
Ukraine reports attack on civilians in Donetsk Oblast
According to Ukrainian sources, apart from the theater, another place where civilians were was also said to have been bombed by Russia. The Unian agency reported, citing the military administration of the Donetsk region, that a swimming pool was hit where women with children and pregnant women sought protection. People were buried in the process.
More Russian attacks in Ukraine despite alleged rapprochement in negotiations
Mareike Aden, WDR, daily topics 10:30 p.m., March 16, 2022
The strategically important port city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea has been occupied by Russian troops for days. The city is cut off from energy, food and water. Hundreds of thousands of people are said to be trapped there in catastrophic conditions. Authorities speak of more than 2,300 dead. The port city has 430,000 inhabitants in peacetime.
People fled under fire
Bojchenko said on Telegram at night that people could now leave the city in private cars. Around 6,500 cars came out within two days. But there is no ceasefire, people fled under fire.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereshchuk said in a video message this morning that a tanker truck with fuel for private cars should be sent to Mariupol from Zaporizhia.
She announced nine escape corridors for Thursday, for example from the towns of Borodjanka and Shevchenkove near Kyiv to Zhytomyr and Brovary. In addition, food and medicines are to be brought to five other locations, including Hostomel in the Kiev region.
Ukraine reports plane down
The Ukrainian army reported during the night that two more Russian Sukhoi Su-35 and Su-30 fighter jets had been destroyed over the Kyiv region. On land, Russian units concentrated on securing their territorial gains. There are efforts by Russian troops to advance south of the city of Izyum, probably to continue an offensive towards Sloviansk. However, they are not successful in this. The Russian Navy continues to block shipping in the north-western part of the Black Sea.
The Russian military said the crews of 70 foreign ships were stranded there because of Ukrainian-mined waters.
The pro-Russian separatists of the self-declared People’s Republic of Luhansk accused the Ukrainian army of six rocket attacks on settlements within 24 hours. The information provided by both sides cannot be independently verified.
Britain: Russian invasion falters
Britain believes the Russian invasion has largely stalled on all fronts. According to British military intelligence reports on the current situation, the Russian military has only made minimal progress on land, sea and air in the past few days. Russian forces suffered heavy casualties.
“Ukrainian resistance remains steadfast and well-coordinated,” the London Ministry of Defense said. Most of the country, including all major cities, is still in Ukrainian hands.