Days after it was surrounded by Russian forces, the Ukrainian authorities renewed the warning of catastrophic conditions in the southeastern city of Mariupol.
Vadim Boychenko, the mayor of the coastal city on the Sea of Azov, confirmed today, Monday, that it is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, calling for the evacuation of its entire population.
160,000 civilians trapped
He also added that about 160,000 civilians are trapped in the city without electricity. He said that 26 buses were waiting to evacuate the civilians, but the Russian forces did not agree to give them safe passage," according to what was quoted by Reuters news agency.
In addition, he accused Moscow of procrastinating, and said, "The Russian Federation is playing with us."
Turned to dust
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced earlier today on Twitter that the residents of the city, which has been bombarded for weeks, are "struggling to survive. The humanitarian situation is catastrophic." The Russians were accused of destroying the city and turning it to dust.
In turn, President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned, on Sunday evening, the siege of the city, which the Russian army has been trying to control for several weeks. "All ports of entry or exit are cut off," he said. "It is impossible to bring supplies and medicine into Mariupol."
It is noteworthy that about two thousand civilians were killed in Mariupol, according to a tally announced by the city's municipality recently, after several attempts to open a safe road for civilians failed amid the exchange of accusations between the two sides of violating the ceasefire.
While Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in the past, blaming Ukraine for the repeated failure to agree on opening safe corridors to evacuate trapped civilians.
Since the start of the military operation described by Moscow as limited last February 24, Mariupol, which overlooks the Sea of Azov, has been a strategic goal for Moscow, especially since its capture will allow it to connect the areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists in the east with the Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. , Southern Ukraine.
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