It is an “urgent need” to quickly evacuate Mariupol, the Ukrainian city besieged by the Russian army and its allies because the humanitarian situation is “catastrophic”, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
“The situation in Mariupol is catastrophic and is deteriorating day by day,” said Laurent Ligozat, the NGO’s coordinator in Ukraine.
“Today, there is no more water. People are having a hard time finding drinking water. There is no electricity, no heating. “Food is starting to run out, shops are empty,” said Ligozat, from Lviv, in western Ukraine.
Médecins Sans Frontières had staff at this port of 450,000 before the Russian invasion last week. There are still their teams there, but they have been blocked for several days.
After several days of bombing, Russia announced this morning that it was proceeding with a ceasefire and opening humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians trapped in Mariupol and neighboring Volnovac, which is also under siege. But the Ukrainians later postponed the evacuation, saying the ceasefire was being violated by the Russians, which the latter denied.
“For several days now, there has been simply nothing coming in and out of the city,” Ligozat said, urging all warring parties to allow civilians to leave.
“It is imperative that this humanitarian corridor, which should have existed today but was not opened because the ceasefire was not observed, be implemented very quickly so that citizens, women and children can leave the city.” he insisted.
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