President Volodymyr Zelensky said people were trapped under the wreckage, and called the attack a war crime.

He also posted footage apparently from inside the hospital, which appeared badly damaged.

A regional official told Ukrainian media that at least 17 people were injured, including staff and patients.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional administration which includes the port city of Mariupol, said no deaths had been confirmed, and there were no confirmed injuries amongst children. He said the attack happened during an agreed ceasefire with the Russian side, according to Interfax Ukraine.

The Mariupol city council said the strike had caused "colossal damage", and published footage showing burned out buildings, destroyed cars and a huge crater outside the hospital. The BBC has verified the location of the videos.

"We don't understand how it's possible in modern life to bomb a children's hospital. People cannot believe that it's true," Mariupol Deputy Mayor Serhiy Orlov told the BBC.

President Zelensky, speaking Russian rather than Ukrainian for part of his latest video address, said the attack was a war crime.

"What kind of a country is Russia, that it is afraid of hospitals and maternity wards and destroys them?" he asked.

Source : http://.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60675599.amp