The Ukrainian government had earlier said that the Mariupol mosque in which about 80 civilians, including Turks, had taken refuge, was shelled by Russia

Kyiv: A Turkish mosque in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol is safe and has remained intact, the head of the mosque association said on Saturday, as clashes continued in and around the city.

“The area was under fire but the mosque itself had not been hit”, Ismail Hacioglu, president of the Suleiman Mosque Association in Mariupol told Turkish TV channel HaberTurk early Saturday afternoon, said.

“The Russians are bombing the area… which is 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) from the mosque, and a bomb fell at a distance of 700 metres from the mosque,” he said earlier on Instagram, according to the Associated Press.

The Ukrainian government had earlier said that the Mariupol mosque in which about 80 civilians, including Turks, had taken refuge, was shelled by Russia.

“The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders,” the ministry wrote on its Twitter account.

“More than 80 adults and children are sheltering there, including Turkish citizens,” it added, without specifying when the strike took place.

Ismail Hacioglu meanwhile said his association had already tried four times to evacuate the Turks by forming a convoy “but the Russians did not let us through” roadblocks.

“We will try a fifth time,” he said.

The Turkish foreign ministry, contacted by AFP, said it had “no information” on the situation.

On March 7, the Turkish consulate in Odesa, a major port in southern Ukraine, had called on Twitter for Turkish nationals in Mariupol to “take shelter” in the mosque, “with a view to evacuation to our country”.