The Mariupol Theater, with “Children” written in large letters outside, in southern Ukraine, March 14, 2022

UPDATE 1755 GMT:

Russian troops have killed a two-year-old child and wounded four people in the village of Novi Petrivtsi, north of Kyiv, according to regional police.

The police said Russian forces fired heavy artillery at residential houses. An apartment building was destroyed and neighboring residences damaged.

UPDATE 1730 GMT:

An aide to Ukraine President Zelenskiy says the freedom of abducted mayor Ivan Federov was obtained for the release of nine captured Russian conscripts.

Fedorov was abducted after the Russians occupied the coastal city of Melitopil last week, naming a city councillor as a replacement. Two other mayors are still held by Russian forces.

UPDATE 1720 GMT:

At least 21 people were killed and 25 injured by an early-morning Russian airstrike destroying a school and community centre in Merefa, near Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, according to local officials.

Ten of the wounded are in critical condition.

The Russians struck the city of 21,500 about 3:30 a.m. They also hit a scientific institution.

UPDATE 1710 GMT:

Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov says technical work is progressing in Ukraine-Russia talks but Russian attacks must stop its shelling for any resolution.

Speaking to members of the European Parliament, Reznikov said:

We will, of course, first of all, during the negotiations talk about a ceasefire, about humanitarian corridors, the provision of the civilian population with evacuation, with water, with food, and maybe later we can sign this agreement for peace.

UPDATE 1650 GMT:

Rescuers are hoping that the thick walls of the basement of the destroyed Mariupol theater will limit fatalities.

Efforts are continuing to rescue hundreds of civilians from the remains of the Drama Theatre after it was bombed by Russian forces on Wednesday.

Pyotr Andryushchenko, an adviser to the Mariupol mayor, said it is not clear how many survivors there are among up to 1,000 people sheltering in the facility.

Serhiy Taruta, a former head of the Donetsk region, wrote: “After an awful night of not knowing, we finally have good news from Mariupol….People are coming out alive.”

UPDATE 1630 GMT:

Speaking on the 8th anniversary of Russian occupation of Ukraine’s Crimea, Vladimir Putin has insisted that international sanctions are “creating opportunities” for businesses who now have “nothing to fear”.

Putin lied that it was possible “the pro-Nazi regime in Kyiv” could have “got its hands on weapons of mass destruction”.

UPDATE 0955 GMT:

Addressing the German Bundestag, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy invoked the Berlin Airlift and the fall of the Berlin Wall to call for an end to division between “free and unfree” Europe and a halt to the war in Ukraine.

That’s what I say to you dear Chancellor Scholz: destroy this wall.

Give Germany the leadership role that it has earned so that your descendants are proud of you. Support freedom, support Ukraine, stop this war, help us to stop this war.

UPDATE 0910 GMT:

The Ukraine Defense Ministry claims the killing of 14,000 Russian troops, including about 200 in the past 24 hours.

The Ministry said 444 Russian tanks, 1435 armored vehicles, 86 planes, 108 helicopters, 11 drones, and 3 ships have been destroyed.

UPDATE 0730 GMT:

The toll from Russian attacks on Chernihiv in northern Ukraine on Wednesday has risen to 53.

The regional governor announced the “heavy losses”.

UPDATE 0640 GMT:

Russia continued shelling and missile strikes overnight. Latest fatalities include one person in Kyiv.

An educational institution in the city of Merefa in northeast Ukraine was struck just after 3:30 a.m. No casualties are reported so far.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia’s forces have reportedly destroyed the theater, where up to 1,300 civilians were sheltering, in the besieged southern Ukraine city of Mariupol.

The council said the Russians “purposefully and cynically destroyed the Drama Theater in the heart” of the city where about 350,000 residents are enduring no heat, water, or electricity and scarcity of food.

Those sheltering included “many children and patients in need of special attention”. Casualties are being confirmed.

The Russians attacked even though the word “Children” was painted on the ground, in large white letters in Russian script, outside the distinctive, red-roofed building.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, “Our hearts are broken by what Russia is doing to our people.” As the Russians continue to block and limit evacuations, he compared the siege to that by the Germans of Leningrad in World War II.

Political analyst and activist Olga Tokariuk tweeted, “Rescuers cannot work in the city because of constant bombardment. I don’t have words left. #SaveMariupol.”

The Russians also targeted the Neptune swimming pool, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional administration.

Kyrylenko wrote on Telegram, “Now there are pregnant women and women with children under the rubble there. It is impossible to establish the number of casualties from these strikes.”

A witness said the pool was destroyed and rescuers were trying to reach a pregnant woman trapped in the rubble.

Ukrainian officials also said the Russian forces shelled a convoy of cars of civilians fleeing the city, wounding at least five people, including a child.

At the eastern end of a corridor along the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, Mariupol has been cut off for more than two weeks. After breaking ceasefires and shelling evacuees on several occasions, Russian forces finally allowed an evacuation of 160 private cars on Monday and 2,000 on Tuesday. About 500 reportedly departed on Wednesday.

But the vast majority of the residents cannot flee, enduring conditions which the UN and aid agencies call a humanitarian emergency. About 400 patients and staff are trapped in a hospital occupied by Russian forces. A second hospital, for the care of children and pregnant women, was bombed last week, leading to at least five deaths, including a child, a pregnant woman, and her newborn baby.

“It is impossible to get out of the hospital,” an employee said of the occupied facility. “They shoot hard, we sit in the basement. Cars have not been able to drive to the hospital for two days. High-rise buildings are burning around….Russians rushed 400 people from neighbouring houses to our hospital. We can’t leave.”

With its ground offensive stalled outside the south of Ukraine, Russia expanded shelling and bombing throughout the country. At least 15 people were killed in Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, including 10 civilians queuing for bread. In Kyiv, five people were slain with Russia targeting apartment blocks up to 15 stories high. In Kharkiv, two people were killed and two residential buildings destroyed.

Soon after the Mariupol theater bombing, President Joe Biden called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for the first time. Russian officials responded angrily.

But Zelenskiy reiterated on Wednesday night:

The war has not stopped yet. Russia’s war crimes continue. The Russian economy is still able to maintain the military machine. That’s why we need new sanctions against Russia. The world must finally recognise officially that Russia has become a terrorist state.

Speaking in Russian, Zelenskiy askeds Russian to question whether the siege of Mariupol is any different from the siege of Leningrad and promised Russian soldiers who lay down their arms a chance to live.

I’m addressing conscripts, who were thrown into a boiler of this war – not their war, – and other soldiers who still have a self-preservation instinct. Lay down your arms. It is better than dying on the battlefield on our land.

A Political Resolution?

The Russian attacks overshadowed talk on Wednesday about a possible advance in Ukraine-Russia negotiations.

Wednesday opened with President Zelenskiy talking about the talks as “more realistic”. Each side then primed media with their version of the status.

The Ukrainians emphasized “legally verified security guarantees; ceasefire; withdrawal of Russian troops”.

The Russians, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, emphasized a neutral Ukraine with no foreign bases or troops.

The Financial Times of London published a 15-point plan encompassing both Ukrainian and Russian points. However, Ukrainian officials quickly said that it was not a draft proposal but a summary reflecting Russian requests rather than an agreed position: “The only thing we confirm at this stage is a ceasefire, withdrawal of Russian troops and security guarantees from a number of countries.”