Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasili Nebenzja, said right-wing extremist militias had cleared a maternity hospital to fire from the property. The statement by UN chief António Guterres and Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelensky, among others, that a children’s hospital has been bombed by Russians is complete nonsense, according to him. Local authorities have said three people, including a child, were killed in the attack.
In addition to Ukrainian armed forces, militias from extremist parties such as the Right Sector and the Azov Battalion are fighting. According to Russia, those extremists are using civilians as human shields and destroying infrastructure including homes and schools. They fear, among other things, the arrival of radical militias from the pro-Russian breakaway regions in Donetsk and Luhansk. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, they have now taken over a number of neighborhoods in the west and east of the port city.