From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Ukraine reports further Russian airstrikes on Mariupol
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office says Russia carried out further airstrikes on the besieged port city of Mariupol early this morning.
Zelensky’s office doesn’t report casualties for the latest strikes. They come amid rescue efforts in the city after a theater where hundreds had been sheltering was destroyed yesterday in what Ukrainian authorities say was a Russian airstrike.
“People are escaping from Mariupol by themselves using their own transport,” Zelensky’s office says, adding the “risk of death remains high” because of Russian forces previously firing on civilians.
The presidential office also reports artillery and airstrikes around the country overnight, including in the Kalynivka and Brovary suburbs of the capital, Kyiv. It says fighting continues as Russian forces try to enter the Ukraine-held city of Mykolaiv in the south and that there was an artillery barrage through the night in the eastern town of Avdiivka.
Ukraine says Russian forces are increasingly resorting to artillery and airstrikes as their advance stalls.
The Ukrainian General Staff says “the enemy, without success in its ground operation, continues to carry out rocket and bomb attacks on infrastructure and highly populated areas of Ukrainian cities.”
The Times of Israel Community.