More than 2,100 civilians killed in Putin’s attack on Mariupol: Up to 400,000 people still trapped
More than 2,100 civilians are killed in Putin’s brutal assault on Mariupol: Up to 400,000 people are still trapped with no electricity, water or heating as Russian forces continue to shell city and priests escort aid convoy to shield it from attacks
Over 2,100 civilians have been killed by Russian forces in Mariupol, says council Ukrainian port city was heavily besieged yesterday, while 400,000 residents hidPresident Zelenskyy said humanitarian aid will arrive in Mariupol this afternoonA group of priests accompanied one convoy for residents without food or water
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More than 2,100 residents of Ukraine’s besieged port city of Mariupol have been killed since hostilities began, the local authorities said today.
Russian shelling of this Ukrainian port city of 430,000 has been relentless, and the number of those who have died since the siege began has increased by 600 since the last count.
Putin’s forces hammered the city’s downtown yesterday as 400,000 residents remain in hiding – many of them in freezing conditions with no food or water.
‘As of today, 2,187 Mariupol residents have died from attacks by Russia,’ the city council posted on Telegram.
‘People are in a serious situation for 12 days. There is no electricity, water, or heat in the city, there is almost no mobile communication, and the last supplies of food and water are running out,’ the local authorities warned.
They added around 100 aerial bombs have been dropped on the city. The bombing of a maternity and children’s hospital wounded 17 on Wednesday and prompted international condemnation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced humanitarian aid will reach the city this afternoon.
A convoy of supplies was spotted travelling yesterday into Mariupol protected by a group of Orthodox priests, who bravely used their religious appearance in the hope that Russian soldiers would be less likely to fire on them.
The Orthodox clergy members are said to have volunteered to accompany the convoy, which carried 90 tonnes of food and medicine, from nearby Zaporizhzhia and planned to safely evacuate civilians on their return, The Telegraph reports.
Debris of destroyed buildings litter the streets of Mariupol as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues with heavy shelling
Footage captured some bombed-out homes reduced to a shell, while the facades of several other buildings show clear damage from shelling.
A second video shows the damage done to city, which is located on the Sea of Azov, as a driver explores its deserted streets.
The clip shows how some bombed-out complexes have been reduced to a shell , while the facades of several other buildings show clear damage from shelling.
Satellite images from yesterday also show the scale of the devastation in Mariupol, with multiple fires in the industrial Primorskyi district
The videos emerged today as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that humanitarian aid is expected to arrive in Mariupol this afternoon, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said.
In his address, Zelenskyy said that Mariupol was the government’s first priority for aid, as 400,000 people remain trapped in the city without food and water.
The president said delays has been caused due to the ‘complexity’ of the route, which had led to supplies convoy being held overnight in nearby Berdyansk – a city also on the Sea of Azov, located 47 miles west of Mariupol.
Among those who are trapped, there are said to be 3,000 babies and 50,000 children, according to officials
Russian forces yesterday bombed a mosque in Mariupol harbouring over 80 people.
The Ukrainian embassy in Turkey stated that 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, were among the people sheltering inside the mosque. Although it is unknown whether there were casualties.
The Ukrainian military tweeted: ‘The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders.’
Satellite images from yesterday also show the scale of the devastation in Mariupol, with multiple fires in the industrial Primorskyi district
Other repeated attempts to bring food to Mariupol and evacuate civilians have been cancelled due to ongoing Russian fire. The unceasing shelling has even interrupted efforts to bury the dead in mass graves.
A Ukrainian official said Russian soldiers blocked one humanitarian convoy headed for Mariupol yesterday and stole from another.
Doctors Without Borders said some residents are dying for lack of medication, with the city without drinking water or medicine for over a week now.
An Associated Press journalist witnessed tanks firing on a nine-story apartment block in Mariupol and was with a group of medical workers who came under sniper fire on Friday.
Conditions at a local hospital there were deteriorating, electricity was reserved for operating tables and the hallways were lined with people with nowhere else to go.
Anastasiya Erashova wept and trembled as she held a sleeping child. Shelling had just killed her other child as well as her brother’s child. ‘No one was able to save them,’ she said.
A Ukrainian serviceman walks near the position he was guarding in Mariupol yesterday
Parks and outdoor facilities in Mariupol were reduced to scorched earth yesterday as Russian invaders ‘hammered’ the city
The aid group says people are resorting to boiling water from the ground or extracted from heating pipes.
Ukraine’s military said Russian forces captured Mariupol’s eastern outskirts.
Taking Mariupol and other ports on the Azov Sea would be strategic for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as it could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014.
