Two more hospitals hit by Russian airstrikes in Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr

Two more hospitals have been damaged in Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr, its mayor has said.

Mayor Serhii Sukhomlyn said one of them was a children’s hospital and no one was wounded.

It comes after a maternity hospital in Mariupol was hit by a Russian airstrike on Wednesday, which wounded at least 17 people, according to Ukrainian officials.

Ukraine war: Get the latest live updates

Key developments:
• Chernobyl radiation fears as minister calls for Russia to allow for urgent repairs
• West has ‘serious concern’ Putin could unleash chemical weapons on Kyiv
• Moscow’s claims of biological weapons programme in war-hit country are ‘absurd propaganda’, says US
• Home Office confirm new UK visa centre in Lille will not accept walk-in applications from Ukrainian refugees

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Children buried under rubble, says Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a war crime and condemned Russian “atrocities” in Mariupol.

“An aerial bomb on a maternity hospital is the conclusive evidence that what is happening is a genocide of Ukrainians,” he said.

The president said children were among people “under the wreckage” and called the strike an “atrocity”.

A Kremlin spokesman said: “Russian forces do not fire on civilian targets” and blamed Ukraine for the failure of a planned evacuation from Mariupol.

The complex was hit by a series of blasts that destroyed windows and much of the front of one building.

Victims that were evacuated included a heavily pregnant, bleeding woman on a stretcher.

Zelenskyy urges tougher sanctions

The southern port city of Mariupol is surrounded by Russian troops and has been subject to heavy shelling for days, leaving thousands of people without food, water and electricity.

“Europeans,” said Mr Zelenskyy. “You won’t be able to say that you didn’t see what happened to Ukrainians in Mariuopol. You saw. You know.

“Consequently, you must strengthen sanctions against Russia so that it never has the chance to continue this genocide.

“You need to pressure Russia so that it sits at the negotiating table and ends this barbarous war.”

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the “horrifying hospital strike” and committed to impose “maximum economic cost” on Russia.

He said it was “yet further proof that Putin was acting with careless disregard for international humanitarian law”.

“There are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless,” he said.

‘Unconscionable attacks’

Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia are set to continue after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba arrived in Turkey to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Mr Kuleba said he had “low” expectations, while Russian negotiator Leonid Slutsky said his side “will not concede a single negotiating point”, according to RIA news agency.

In a speech in the US today, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is expected to say that aggression like Russian President Vladimir Putin’s must “never again” be allowed to “grow unchecked”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Russia’s “unconscionable attacks” as the US pressed on with tougher sanctions.

A US ban on Russian oil and gas imports was approved by the House of Representatives, along with $13.6bn (£10.3bn) in aid for Ukraine.

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