Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says about 130 people have been rescued so far from a theater in Mariupol that was hit by a Russian air strike, with “hundreds” more still trapped inside the building.
Zelenskiy said in a video posted on Facebook on March 18 that rescue operations at the site would continue even though Russian forces continue to shell the besieged port city.
“Hundreds of Mariupol residents are still beneath the rubble,” he said.
The theater was being used as a shelter for hundreds of residents trapped inside the city when Russian shells destroyed it on March 16.
Officials have yet to say how many people, if any, died in the attack. They have said that most were under the theater inside a bomb shelter, which survived the blasts intact.
The attack on a civilian building marked with the words “children” in Russian, which was clearly visible from the air, has sparked a wave of international revulsion and heaped pressure on Russia’s few remaining allies — most notably China — to condemn Moscow’s deliberate targeting of nonmilitary sites during the war, which began on February 24.
WATCH: A hospital in Ukraine’s besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol is overflowing with patients. With Russian forces having destroyed all the other medical facilities in the city, it serves as an emergency department, a maternity ward, and a morgue.
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to order a halt in Moscow’s attack on Ukraine after missiles struck a maintenance facility near Lviv’s international airport and after the Polish Border Guard Service reported that more than 2 million refugees had entered Poland since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine more than three weeks ago.
Scholz and Putin spoke for almost an hour on the “ongoing war in Ukraine and efforts to end it,” Scholz’s office said in a statement on March 18.
It gave no further details, but the Kremlin said in a separate statement that “the Russian side is ready to continue the search for solutions in line with its well-known principled approaches.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow that Putin is expected to hold a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron later on March 18.
Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine
RFE/RL’s Ukraine Live Briefing gives you all of the latest on Russia’s unprovoked invasion of its neighbor, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. The Live Briefing presents the latest developments and analysis, updated throughout the day.
Moscow’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine has seen more than 187,000 people flee to Germany, according to the Interior Ministry, though experts say the number is probably much higher as many of the 2 million who have entered Poland likely continued on to Germany.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell discussed protection and help for Ukrainians who have fled.
Kuleba said on Twitter that he and Borrell also discussed a fifth set of EU sanctions against Russia over its unprovoked invasion.
The mayor of the western Ukrainian city of Lviv said earlier on March 18 that Russian rockets struck an airport maintenance plant near the city’s airport on March 18 as Japan and Australia slapped fresh sanctions on Russian entities and U.S. President Joe Biden prepared to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping over Beijing’s position on Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy said on March 18 that several missiles hit the facility for repairing military aircraft, sending a plume of smoke into the air. The strike also damaged a bus repair facility. No casualties were immediately reported.
Russian forces pressed their assault on other Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, where shelling was reported in the suburbs. Early morning barrages hit a residential building in the Podil neighborhood, killing at least one person, according to emergency services.
The missiles that hit Lviv were launched from the Black Sea, the Ukrainian Air Force’s western command said on Facebook, adding that two of the six missiles launched were shot down.
Across Ukraine, hospitals, schools, residential areas, and buildings in which people have sought safety have been attacked, prompting world leaders to push for an investigation.
The World Health Organization said it had verified 43 attacks on hospitals and health facilities, killing 12 people and injuring 34.
Earlier on March 18, Japan and Australia announced separate measures sanctioning Russian individuals and organizations as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine.
Japan will impose sanctions against 15 Russian individuals and nine organizations, including defense officials and state-owned arms exporter Rosoboroneksport, while Australia will target two Russian billionaires — Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg — with links to its mining industry.
Biden will speak with Xi amid U.S. concern that Beijing is “considering directly assisting Russia with military equipment to use in Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Biden will make clear to Xi that Beijing “will bear responsibility for any actions it takes to support Russia’s aggression,” Blinken told reporters.
China has declined to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine or call them an invasion. It says it recognizes Ukraine’s sovereignty but that Russia has legitimate security concerns that should be addressed.
The two presidents are to speak at 9 a.m. Eastern time.
Also on March 18, Pope Francis called the war in Ukraine a “perverse abuse of power” that has condemned defenseless people to violence.
“The tragedy of the war taking place in the heart of Europe has left us stunned,” he said.
The pope has not named Russia in any of his condemnations but he has used phrases such as “unacceptable armed aggression.”
His latest condemnation came in a message to a Catholic Church conference in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, which has opened its doors to refugees.
