Zelensky: 130 rescued, hundreds 'still beneath the rubble'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that 130 people have been rescued from the ruins after Russian bombs destroyed a theater in the port city of Mariupol leaving “hundreds” trapped in the rubble.  

“More than 130 people have been saved. But hundreds of Mariupol residents are still beneath the rubble,” Zelensky said in a video on Facebook.

“Despite the shelling, despite all the difficulties, we will continue the rescue work,” he added.

According to Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Lyudmyla Denisova, some “women and children” emerged from a bomb shelter underneath the theater but some 1,300 people are believed to still be trapped in the ruins. Sources from within the city council have noted that, “According to initial information, there are no dead, but there is information about one person gravely wounded,” Al Jazeera reported.

Although Ukraine has publicly accused Russia of the attack, the Kremlin has denied any involvement. What is apparent, however, is that days before the bombing, satellite images shared by private company Maxar showed the word “DETI” (“children” in Russian) written on the ground on either side of the theater.

Zelensky once again urged Western leaders to provide his government with economic and military support and also charged that deliveries of weapons were arriving too slowly.

“We again remind certain Western leaders that it will be a moral defeat for them … if Ukraine does not receive advanced weapons,” he said.