Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has strongly condemned the recent bombardment of a maternity and children hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine by Russian troops.

“It is nothing short of devastating to hear of the barbaric bombing of maternity and children's hospital. We stand with Ukraine and strongly condemn this cowardly attack on defenseless, innocent civilians. This shameful massacre must end immediately,” Zalkaliani tweeted. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It is nothing short of devastating to hear of the barbaric bombing of maternity &amp; children&#39;s hospital in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mariupol?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mariupol</a>. We <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StandWithUkraine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StandWithUkraine</a> &amp; strongly condemn this cowardly attack on defenseless, innocent civilians. This shameful massacre must end immediately <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StopRussianAggression?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StopRussianAggression</a></p>&mdash; David Zalkaliani (@DZalkaliani) <a href="https://twitter.com/DZalkaliani/status/1501840155442917377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


According to reports the attack killed three civilians, including one child and left several others injured. 

“Today Russia committed a huge crime,” said Volodymir Nikulin, a top regional police official, standing in the ruins.

“It is a war crime without any justification.” Russian FM Sergey Lavrov has dismissed allegations.