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Ukrainian officials accused Russia of launching an attack on an art school in the city of Mariupol, where hundreds of civilians were taking shelter. There are no details about the number of casualties.
"Yesterday, the Russian occupiers dropped bombs on the G12 art school in the Left Bank district of Mariupol, where about 400 Mariupol residents were hiding - women, children and the elderly," the Mariupol City Council wrote on Telegram. "It is known that the building was destroyed, and peaceful people are still under the rubble. Information on the number of victims is being clarified."
The attack comes several days after Russian forces launched an airstrike on a theater in the city where an estimated 1,300 people were sheltering.
Petro Andrushenko, an advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, said that Russia has stepped up attacks over the past week and claimed that troops were targeting civilians trying to flee the war-torn city.
"The city continues to be shelled both from the sky and the sea," Andrushenko wrote on his Telegram channel, CNN reported. "It seems the occupiers are so eager to wipe out Mariupol that they are ready to cover themselves with fire."
"Evacuation is difficult -- difficult but moving. The Russians are doing everything to complicate things. Last night, cars trying to drive towards the village of Melekine [6 miles west of the city center] were fired upon," he added.