Ukraine says Russia shelled a mosque housing 80 civilians in Mariupol

Russian forces have shelled a mosque in the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, that was sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said on Saturday as fighting also raged on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv.

"The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders. More than 80 adults and children are hiding there from the shelling, including citizens of Turkey," news agency AFP reported quoting a tweet by Ukraine's foreign ministry.

In the tweet, the ministry did not specify when the shelling took place. There was also no immediate information about the casualties from the shelling of the mosque.

However, according to a Associated Press report, the Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey has said that a group of 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, were among the people who had sought safety in the mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roksolana.

Mariupol has been under siege and bombardment for more than a week and is encircled by Russian troops. As of Friday, the death toll in Mariupol passed 1,500 during 12 days of attack, the mayor's office said. A strike on a maternity hospital in the city of 446,000 this week that killed three people sparked international outrage and war-crime allegations.

Russian forces have hit at least two dozen hospitals and medical facilities since they invaded Ukraine on Febuary 24, according to the World Health Organization, according to AP report.