MARIUPOL, Ukraine — The city council of Mariupol says a Russian airstrike on a maternity hospital Wednesday killed three people, including a child.
The announcement comes a day after Ukrainian officials said 17 people were hurt in the attack.
The attack buried children in the rubble and wounded both doctors and women waiting to give birth. Bombs also fell on two hospitals in another city west of the capital.
The World Health Organization said it was one of 18 attacks on medical facilities since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began two weeks ago.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike in Mariupol on Wednesday.
"People, children are under the wreckage," Zelenskyy claimed on social media.
He later reiterated his pleas to allies to enforce a no-fly zone over his country.
"How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror," he asked. "Close the sky right now! Stop the killings!"
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed concerns about the strike Thursday as "pathetic shrieks" from Russia's enemies.
Lavrov didn't deny or shy away from responsibility for the attack. He claimed the site had earlier been seized by Ukrainian far-right radical fighters who were using it as a base.
Despite video showing injuries to civilians and local reports confirming the deaths, Lavrov claimed all the patients and nurses were moved from the hospital before the assault.
Lavrov said Russia was ready for more negotiations but showed no sign of softening Moscow's stance in the dispute.
