Lviv (Times Of Ocean)- Almost 5,000 people, including about 210 children, have died since Russian forces seized Mariupol in southern Ukraine, according to a spokesperson for the city’s mayor. Unravel News
The toll of a month of Russian bombardment, which has devastated the city and trapped thousands of residents without power and supplies, was not immediately known to Mayor Vadym Boichenko.
According to Boichenko’s office, 90% of Mariupol’s buildings were damaged and 40% destroyed, including hospitals, schools, kindergartens and factories.
According to its figures, Reuters could not immediately verify, around 140,000 people had fled the city on the Sea of Azov before the Russian siege began and 150,000 have left since then, leaving 170,000 left.
Boichenko, who is no longer in Mariupol, told national television earlier on Monday that about 160,000 civilians were still trapped in the city.
“People are beyond the line of humanitarian catastrophe,” he said. “We need to completely evacuate Mariupol.”
On Monday, Ukraine said it was impossible to build any safe corridors, citing intelligence reports about possible Russian “provocations” along the routes.
The Russian army, which invaded Ukraine on Feb 24, denies targeting civilians and blames Ukraine for repeatedly failing to agree on safe corridors for trapped civilians.