Approximately 1,300 people have died in the city of Mariupol as Russian forces continue their more than weeklong siege, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said today.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky branded the
and maternity ward in Mariupol on Wednesday a "war crime" and "proof that the genocide of Ukrainians is taking place."Many of the city's residents have no electricity, phone service or heating, even as nighttime temperatures regularly dip below freezing, per AP.that "there is no possibility of private graves, because of the high numbers and because of the continuous shelling. They are being put into mass graves.
Food is scarce, meat is unavailable and vegetables are being sold on the black market, Sacha Volkov, a local Red Cross official, told AP.“People started to attack each other for food," Volkov added.More than 70 people have been buried in a mass grave on the outskirts of the city since it opened on Tuesday, per AP.
The city is a strategic goal for the Russian forces because seizing it would enable Russian forces in eastern Ukraine to join forces with Russian forces in Crimea, according to the BBC.
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