Mariupol theatre sheltering 'hundreds' of civilians hit by Russia: mayor's office

People fleeing from the besieged city of Mariupol arrive in Zaporizhzhia and find temporary respite. Clothes, water and food is handed out by volunteers, some from the Red Cross.

Many have arrived with little to no possessions, "We didn't take anything from home...we quickly got into the car and left. That's all" says one man, now internally displaced but originally from Pologi.

Authorities in Ukraine's besieged port city of Mariupol said Wednesday that Russian forces hit a theatre where "hundreds’’ of civilians were taking shelter.

"Russia purposefully destroyed the Drama Theatre, where hundreds of people are hiding," Mariupol city authorities said in a statement on Telegram.

Officials posted a photo of the theatre building, whose middle part was completely destroyed, with thick white smoke rising from the rubble. Officials said a bomb was dropped on the building from an airplane.

Satellite images of the theatre on March 14, shared by private satellite company Maxar, showed the words "children" clearly etched out in the ground in Russian on either side of the building.

City authorities were trying to establish the number of casualties, but their efforts were hampered by the fact that residential neighbourhoods were under shelling.

"It is impossible to find words to describe the level of cynicism and cruelty, with which Russian invaders are destroying peaceful residents of a Ukrainian city by the sea," the official statement read.

Russia's defence ministry denied that its forces bombed the city on Wednesday and stated the building was destroyed in an explosion set off by Ukraine's nationalist Azov battalion.

Moscow has already blamed the military unit for last week's bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, which sparked an international outcry.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in the besieged city, according to Ukrainian authorities.