Just googling for background information on some of the alleged factoids of the Mariupol maternity ward bombing - I came across the following write up of IPHR a Brussels based Human rights NGO, which went online on March 22, 2022 - and in all aspects and scope is better than the OSCE report or any of the media reports that I’ve read so far. (see: The Labour of Truth: Russia’s Attack on a Maternity Hospital in Mariupol as a War Crime)
It comes to the following conclusion:
It is obvious that no matter how desperately the Russian side seeks to justify the inhuman attack by its armed forces on the maternity hospital in Mariupol, two things remain obvious: their manipulation of the facts and their lies about the reasons for the bombing. Certainly, it is necessary to conduct a more in-depth investigation into all the circumstances of this attack. However, at this stage, there are already more than sufficient grounds to claim that the Russian side has committed a war crime, for which all those involved should be held accountable.
Here is some of their arguing:
At the UN Security council meeting the russian federation often refered to Maternity Hospital Nr. 1, which was not the one bombed. The one bombed was a multipurpose complex providing several medical services for women and children of different ages. Namely -- Mariupol Territorial Medical Association for Children’s and Women’s Health. Both have decidedly different addresses.
That said, the entire Media coverage still prefered to talk about it as the bombing of a Maternity hospital.
So thats fun, because the arguments made by the Russian side in the Security Council meetings now also dont just concern one and the same location, but two different ones.
The russian side claimed, that Azow was stationed there, while there is no media proof for that matter, but there are alleged media reports of two companies of the 36th marine Brigade of the Ukraine Armed forces having been there, its just that they arent associated with the Azow batallion. Azow batallion probably was used for its recognition value. (Also, the one alleged report from “Igor” the son of one of the employees also mentions Azow, but states that he isnt sure who it was that came and - according to them “took over a maternity hospital”.)
The main point is the decided lack of proof for the allegations that there were Ukrainian combatants stationed at the hospital. None of the video or photo footage released shows anything of the kind. Evgeniy Maloletka, when asked directly also reported on more than one occasion, that they saw nothing that would imply military use (src, for example: click)
The NGO specifies:
The only source that contains such first-hand information is the report in the above mentioned article by Lenta.ru. However, this article was published only a day before the attack on the maternity hospital of the Mariupol Territorial Medical Association for Children’s and Women’s Health, and secondly, it was published after Nebenzya’s speech at the UN Security Council on 7 March and was removed altogether soon after. Thus, Sergey Lavrov’s claim that he was monitoring the situation and had been acquainted with “emotionally composed reports in the media” (allegedly, he had received information about the seizure of the medical institution three days before the attack)[17] cannot be considered reliable. As one of the employees of the medical institution noted, “there were problems with heating, electricity, and water in the hospital, as well as with baby food”. As for the false Russian statements that Ukrainian combatants were hiding in the hospital, she explains, “Azov Battalion representatives were in the hospital on 3 March, they brought a whole truckload of humanitarian aid – diapers, baby food, cosmetics. The hospital was shelled on 9 March”.[18]
That said, the article is back online again. But can not be considered reliable is fair.
As for the allegation, that the bomb crater could not have been caused by an unguided bomb, it is stated, that russia has used them in this conflict, has had a history of targeting civilian infrastructure in Syria, and allegedly used the same bombs in a bombing run on the city of Mariupol on the following day.
The allegation that the explosion crater was caused by a Ukrainian mine meant to blow up the hospital. Before analysing the explosion crater in the photo, it is necessary to refer to the interrogation of a Russian prisoner of war, pilot Alexander Krasnoyartsev, during which he said that Russian military command deliberately orders bombings of civilian infrastructure and residential areas of Ukrainian Additionally, instead of using precision- guided munitions, as claimed by Russian military commanders and propagandists, he said that they were using free-fall bombs (not precision-guided) OFAB-250-270, FAB-500, OFZAB-500. It should be noted that before Russia’s current armed aggression against Ukraine, Russia used the same unguided bombs in Syria.[21]
The nature of the destruction and the shape of the crater following the explosion at the Mariupol hospital indicate that it was caused by an aircraft bomb, at least a modification of the FAB-500. This type of bomb is characterised by a crater of the same geometric shape, up to 8.5 m deep, while the maximum radius of destruction of such a bomb for vulnerable vehicles is 110-190 m.[23] All this is evident from the video taken at the bombsite near the Mariupol maternity hospital on 9 March. It is obvious that the technical characteristics of at least a 500- kg high-explosive bomb correspond to the general picture of the destruction after the bombing of the maternity hospital and the other nearby hospital building of the Mariupol Territorial Medical Association for Children’s and Women’s Health.
It should also be noted that on 10 March, Russian troops carried out another air raid on the city and bombed its downtown, close to a local drama theatre. The nature of the consequences of this bombing – the form of the crater and the destruction caused by the bombing – are quite similar to the consequences of the bombing of the hospital.[24] Thus, it can be concluded that Russian troops purposefully and repeatedly used high-explosive bombs against civilians.
The NGO states further:
The destruction of the premises of the maternity hospital of the Mariupol Territorial Medical Association for Children’s and Women’s Health itself is simply catastrophic, in stark contrast to the statements of the Russian representative to the UN.
Which only is partly correct.
They refer to this photo:
Which shows the part of the destroyed area most highly impacted by the explosion.
The russian news outlet referenced in the OECD report likes to show a different image:
src: click
Which is more in line with the two explosions theory brought forward by the same website.
Quote:
According to experts, the shape and size of the craters do not correspond to the damage to the hospital building and cars , the Readovka portal reported . There are no penetration holes in the walls, that is, holes characteristic of airstrikes. There are no signs of fire in the hospital buildings, and the frames are not broken. The trees around one of the craters are intact, which means that it appeared as a result of an explosion from underground of an explosive charge weighing up to 100 kg in TNT equivalent, buried 1.5-2 meters deep.
src: click
The argument that there are no signs of fire, and the frame of the building is mostly undamaged, is correct. Its just that that one part, is heavily damaged.
In stark contrast to the statements of the Russian representative to the UN is still a fair statement though.
Then as a third argument the confusion about the beauty blogger being on the scene and the allegations made on her behalf are mentioned and rightfully debunked.
Because of all that it is argued, that the russian side resorted to confusing the matter with a bunch of allegations that sidetracked the matter - which is then framed as: “Two things remain obvious: their manipulation of the facts and their lies about the reasons for the bombing.”
Which in the NGOs argument leads to the following conclusion:
“Certainly, it is necessary to conduct a more in-depth investigation into all the circumstances of this attack. However, at this stage, there are already more than sufficient grounds to claim that the Russian side has committed a war crime, for which all those involved should be held accountable.”
With the most damning piece of circumstantial evidence being -
It should also be noted that on 10 March, Russian troops carried out another air raid on the city and bombed its downtown, close to a local drama theatre.
That said, none of this is conclusive proof. And if I’d plan an information operation, red herings like an actually pregnant social media influencer at the scene, talking about this being a maternity hospital, when it was a general purpose womens health hospital, and staging two explosions - then controlling the information until my star reporter arrives at the scene (social media reports didn’t leak beforehand), is not beyond the scope of imagination.
That russians claimed that Azow had taken over the facility is just good propaganda positioning. You’d probably do that just to cover the public perception angle, that you had to do it, because it was against “the bad guys”.
Here are a few other interesting tidbits.
The hospital allegedly was bombed around 16:00 pm. Russian allegations that able people who could leave, would have probably left by the time the journalist arrived and started to document the bombing, rely on the assumption that the bombing was done “mid day”. That information wasnt trickling out until the evening can be explained by an information blockade (no internet except at that one spot).
Its also curious, that to this day Wikipedia states that Maternity Hospital No 3 was bombed when it wasnt. Mariupols City Hospital No. 3 was bombed.
Also, in some recordings of the incident the sound of an airplane might have been identified. I havent mentioned that before, and I thought I’ve read it during my research - but I currently cant find any references - which is my bad entirely.
edit: Found it: click
Its just interesting, that the OECD report is an utter pile of garbage not looking at the actual claims, and - well the Chernov story is an episode in itself…
Oh, and russia never claimed that the alleged “staging” didnt include an explosion that shattered all the windows on the building, in fact there are witness accounts that it did.
Oh and there WERE two explosions. See: click (AP)
edit: Oh, and we have an alleged motive now. Terror in service of the psychological warfare campaign to take over the city of Mariupol - quickly. Military propaganda statements like “they wont last for more than a week” were spiked throughout russian media at right around the same time.
edit2: The “Photo illustration” used by Komsomolskaya Pravda aparently was used by other russian media channels in the week before, indicating that it would have been Maternity hospital No. 1. See: click
